


Don't click on this

by GreenTeaandKurkuretogo



Category: A - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:13:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 114,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27346402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenTeaandKurkuretogo/pseuds/GreenTeaandKurkuretogo





	1. Heaven's Official Blessings

Chapter 1: Heaven Official’s Blessing

Among the gods of the heavens, there was a famous laughing stock known throughout the three realms.

Legend has it that eight hundred years ago, there was an ancient country within the Central Plains called Xian Le nation.

The ancient nation of Xian Le had vast territory, abundant resources and content citizens. The country had four treasures: delicate beauties aplenty, thriving arts & literature, treasures of gold and jewels and last but not least, their renown Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This person, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince….you could say…. was a strange man.

The Emperor and Empress considered him to be the apple of their eyes. They doted on him immensely and would often proudly proclaim: “In the future, my son will surely become a wise monarch, leaving a reputable impression for generations to come .”

Yet, in the regards of what came with royalty, of riches, power and honor, the Crown Prince had no interest.

What he was interested in, quoting the very words he often said to himself, was——

“I want to save the common folks!”

.

The young prince cultivated in earnest. During this time, two short stories became widely circulated. .

The first story occurred when he was seventeen years old.

That year, the nation of Xian Le held a magnificent Offering to the Gods parade.

Although this tradition had already been abandoned for numerous centuries, through surviving ancient texts and verbal stories, one could imagine the grandeur of the event..

Offering to the Gods day, Martial God Main Street.

Both sides of the Main Street were overflowing with a sea of people. The aristocrats were seated on top of high buildings as they exchanged friendly chatter; while the imperial guards cleared the way with their impressive armours clinking. Young girls danced gracefully as their snow-white hands scattered flower petals like rain, filling the sky as far as the eye could see. It made people question whether the dancing maidens were more beautiful or the flowers themselves. Melodious notes sounded from within golden carriages and floated throughout the whole Imperial City. Behind honorable guards, sixteen white horses with golden bridles walked side-by-side as they pulled forward a magnificent platform.

Located on top of the tall, magnificent platform was the focus of everyone’s attention, there stood the martial artist to perform a show to please the Gods.

During the festive heavenly parade, the martial artist would adorn a golden mask, don splendid garments and wield a sword in one hand. He would perform the role of the first military deity in a millennium to have subdued demonic beasts——Martial God Heavenly Emperor Jun Wu.

Being selected as the martial artist to perform such a show could be considered equivalent as to receiving the utmost honour, and thus the selection criteria was extremely strict. This year, the one who was chosen was none other than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The entire nation was convinced that he would surely be able to become the most marvellous martial artist to perform such a performance since the beginning of time.

However, on that day, something unexpected occurred.

The guard of honour made his third lap around the city walls, passing through one side with a dozen or more tall city walls.

During that time, the martial god on the magnificent stage was just about to land a killing blow on a demon.

This was the most exciting scene, and thus the people on both sides of the Main Street were fired up with passion. The people on the city walls were also becoming more rowdy as they started outdoing each other in sticking their heads out to see, both struggling and shoving.

Right at this moment, a young child fell from the top of the city gate tower.

Earsplitting screams pierced the heavens. Just when everyone thought that the young child was about to splash blood onto the Martial God Main Street, the Crown Prince lifted his head slightly before he leapt up and caught him.

The people only had enough time to glimpse a bird-like, white figure flit through the empty sky before the Crown Prince landed safely with the young child. His golden mask fell off, revealing the young and handsome face previously hidden behind it.

In the next moment, a crowd of ten thousand began to cheer.

The common people were delighted, but the Taoist ministers from the Imperial Household had some headaches.

They would never have thought in a million years that such a gigantic mistake would have occurred.

It was ominous, too ominous!

Every lap the magnificent platform does around the Imperial City represents a prayer for a year of the country’s peace and prosperity. Now that it had been interrupted, wasn’t that the same as incurring disaster?!

The ministers were worried to the point they lost hair like rain. After they pondered over the past and the now probable events that might occur in the future, they invited over the Crown Prince and tactfully suggested, Your Highness, can you face the wall for a month2 to show your repentance? You don’t have to actually do it, just the gesture to show your intent would be enough.

The Crown Prince smiled before replying, “No need.”

He explained his thoughts, “Saving people isn’t something bad. How could the Heavens fault me because I did the right thing?”

…And if by chance the Heavens do decide to blame you?

“Then the Heavens would be the ones who are wrong. Why should the people who are right apologize to the ones who are wrong?”

The ministers were speechless.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was exactly this type of person.

He’d never encountered anything he wasn’t able to accomplish, and he also never met anyone who didn’t love him. He was always right, and he was the heart of the world.

Thus, the ministers felt deep pain in their hearts as they thought, “What the hell do you know!?”

However, it wasn’t convenient for them to say more, and they also didn’t dare do it. His Highness wouldn’t listen to them anyway.

·

The second story also took place in the year the Crown Prince was seventeen.

According to the legends, on the south side of the Yellow River existed a bridge called the Yi Nian3 Bridge, where a famous ghost wandered for many years.

This ghost was utterly terrifying—dressed in ruined armor with flames from hell following its footsteps; its whole body was also covered in blood and pierced by numerous blades and arrows. Every step he took left behind the traces of both blood and fire. Every few years, it would suddenly appear during the night, wandering at the foot of the bridge and stopping travellers to ask them three questions: “Where is this?” “Who am I?” “What will you do now?”

If one did not answer correctly, they would be completely swallowed by the ghost in one bite. However, nobody knew what the correct answers were supposed to be. Thus, after several years, this ghost already swallowed countless pedestrians.

The Crown Prince heard about this matter one day while he was wandering about. After he found Yi Nian Bridge, he began to guard the foot of the bridge continuously until he finally met the ghost haunting the bridge one night.

The ghost appeared in a flash; and sure enough, it was as eerie and terrifying as what the rumors had claimed. It opened its mouth to ask the Crown Prince the first question, which the Crown Prince replied to him with a smile, “This is the human realm.”

However, the ghost replied, “This is the abyss.”

Beginner’s luck, it was only the first question, but he had already gotten it wrong.

The Crown Prince thought to himself, he was going to answer the questions wrong anyway, so why wait for the ghost to finish asking? Thus, he pulled out his weapon and began to fight.

This battle lasted until the sky became twilight and the land was covered in darkness. The Crown Prince was highly skilled in martial arts, while the ghost became even more daunting and dreadful. One man and one ghost fought on that bridge until the positions of the sun and moon had practically switched, before finally, the ghost was defeated.

After the ghost disappeared, the Crown Prince planted a flowering tree at the foot of the bridge. At that moment, a Taoist had been passing through and saw him scatter a handful of golden soil to help escort the ghost to its next life. He asked, “What are you doing?”

The Crown Prince then spoke his famous eight words: “Body in the abyss, but heart in paradise.”

When the Taoist heard that, he smiled slightly before transforming into a General deity clad in white armor. He stepped onto a magical cloud, summoned a strong wind, and then flew into the sunlight. The Crown Prince only realized then that, by a lucky coincidence, he had unexpectedly encountered the Martial God Heavenly Emperor himself who had descended to the human realm to subdue demonic beasts.

All the Gods were already paying attention to this extremely outstanding martial god after he had leapt into the sky on the day of the Offering to the Gods Parade. After meeting him at the foot of the Yi Nian Bridge, immortals began asking the Emperor: “What do you think of this Royal Highness, the Crown Prince?”

Emperor Jun also answered with eight words: “This child’s future is limitless, impossible to measure.”

That same evening, the sky above the Royal Palace became unnatural as wind and rain caused havoc.

And among the lightning flashes and thundering rolls, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascended into godhood.

·

As long as someone ascends, the Heavens would always quake once. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascended, it immediately made the entire Heavens shake three times.

To achieve immortality through one’s efforts and insights was truly hard.

It required innate talent, high cultivation, and the right opportunity.

To be reborn as a respected god, more often than not, was an endless, lifetime journey.

A youngster ascending into godhood and becoming an arrogant brat in the Heavens wasn’t something that hadn’t happened, but there was also plenty of people who bitterly exhausted their entire life cultivating yet still did not achieve immortality. Even if they came across a chance from Heaven, if they didn’t overcome the heavenly tribulation, they would either die or become a waste. Countless humans, like the grains of sand in a desert, had a lives of mediocrity from start to finish, unable to find their right paths due to ignorance.

And so this Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, was undoubtedly the Heaven’s beloved darling. The things he wanted, there was nothing he could not obtain. The things he wanted to do, there was nothing that was impossible for him to accomplish. And when he wanted to ascend into godhood, he really ascended into godhood at age seventeen.

Originally, the Crown Prince was already popular with his people. Coupled with how he was the Emperor’s and Empress’ greatly missed beloved son, they commanded temples in the Crown Prince’s name to be built vigorously in many parts of the country. Statues were erected and everyone assembled to pay their respects. The more believers he had, the more shrines were built, so he lived longer and became more powerful. As a result, in just a couple of years, Xian Le country’s Crown Prince flourished and reached the peak of his power.

——Until three years later, when Xian Le descended into chaos.

·

The reason for the chaos was due to the Emperor’s cruel governing, prompting a rebel army to rise for justice. However, though the fire of war had already started flaming in the human realm, Heaven’s Godly officials could not meddle according to their wishes. Unless it was a result of demons and ghouls overstepping or violating their bounds, what happened must be allowed to happen. Disputes happened everywhere in the world, and every person believed their own actions were justified. If every deity interfered—today you will help and support your country, while tomorrow he helps his descendants take revenge. Wouldn’t that result in immortals coming to blows so frequently that it might eventually cause all life to be destroyed? In his Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s case, it was something he should keep out of even more.

But he didn’t care about that. He told Emperor Jun, “I want to save the common people.”

Though Emperor Jun had accumulated spiritual Godly power for thousands of years, even he did not dare to lightly say those words out loud. When he heard the Crown Prince, his mood could be easily imagined. However, Emperor Jun couldn’t do anything about him and could only helplessly say, “You cannot save everybody.”

The Crown Prince replied, “I can.”

Therefore, he descended to the human realm with no second thoughts.

The people of the entire Xian Le country naturally celebrated. However, since ancient times, folk tales had long tried to warn people of a truth. The event of an unauthorized immortal descending to the human realm would absolutely not bear a good result.

Thus, the fires from the war did not die down, and instead began burning even more wildly.

It wasn’t that His Highness the Crown Prince did not do his best, yet it would have been better had he had not done his best. The more he strived, the more complicated the war became. The people of Xian Le were beaten til their heads fell and their blood flowed, suffering disastrous casualties. Finally, a plague swept throughout the whole Imperial City and the rebels broke into the palace, ending the war.

One could say that when Xian Le country had been struggling on whilst at death’s door, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been the one to directly suffocate them.

·

After the country was wiped out, the people suddenly realized something:

So, it turned out that their Crown Prince deity was not as formidable or perfect as they had imagined.

To put it more vulgarly, wasn’t he just an useless figure who was unable to accomplish anything, but liable to spoiling everything else?

Unable to vent the suffering they had felt after losing both their homes and their beloved ones, angry people covered in wounds rushed into the Crown Prince’s palace hall. They pushed down his Godly statue and burned his shrines.

Eight thousand temples burned for seven days and seven nights—burning until they completely disappeared.

From then on, a Martial God known for protection and peace faded away, and a demonic God who attracted disasters was born.

When people said you were a god, then you were a god. If they said you were sh*t, then you were sh*t. Whatever the people said you were, that was what you became. It had always been like this.

·

No matter what, His Highness the Crown Prince couldn’t accept this fact. What he could not accept even more was the punishment given to him: banishment.

His cultivation was destroyed, and he was to be thrown into the human realm.

From childhood, he had been spoiled a thousand ways as he grew up, so he never suffered the pains and difficulties of normal people. Thus, this penalty made him fall from high in the clouds down into the mud. And in this mud, it was the first time he experienced starvation, poverty, and the feeling of filth. It was also the first time he did things he had never imagined himself ever doing: pilfering, robbing, violently cursing, and abandoning himself to despair. Prestige entirely lost, self-esteem completely gone, he became as ugly as one wanted him to be. Even the most devoted attendants were unable to accept him changing in this way, and thus they chose to leave.

Body in the abyss, but heart in paradise. These eight words were carved almost everywhere in the stone tablets and boards of Xian Le country. Had they not been almost entirely burned away in the war, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were to see them again, he would be the first to rush up smash them.

Because the one who personally said the phrase had already proved that when his body was in the abyss, his heart was not in paradise.

·

He ascended quickly, and descended even quicker. The Martial God’s words and his graceful glance, having met both demon and god by chance on Yi Nian Bridge. They seemed as if they were things that had happened yesterday. The Heavens sighed for a bit, for the things that happened in the past remained in the past.

Many years passed when one day, a loud sound shook the Heavens. That Royal Highness the Crown Prince, ascended to Godhood for the second time.

Since ancient times, Gods who had been banished treated it as a setback leading to a total collapse, before degenerating into a ghost or a demon. There were absolutely very little people who were able to reverse their fortunes and return after being banished. This event of ascending for a second time was something entirely worthy of only the vigorous and the strong.

What was even more vigorous was that right after he ascended, he charged into the Heavens to beat up and murder everyone in all four directions. Thus, the Crown Prince had only ascended for about the time it took to burn one incense stick before he was kicked down again.

One incense stick4. It could be said that it was history’s quickest and most violent, yet brief ascension.

If one said that his first ascension was something to be praised, then his second ascending could only be called a farce.

·

After these two times, everyone in Heaven turned their backs on this Crown Prince. But although they abandoned him, they still felt a bit on guard. After all, after he was demoted once, he was driven to such a state of desperation. Now he was banished twice, would he become a demon and retaliate by abusing the common people?

Who knew that after he was demoted again, he did not become a demon and quite sincerely adapted to his banished lifestyle. There were no problems at all, and the only problem was just he was really too earnest.

Sometimes he performed on the streets, masterfully singing or playing both wind and bowed instruments of all kinds. Even breaking a giant stone on his chest was nothing difficult for him. Although they had long heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could sing and dance and was multi-talented, to actually see it in a situation like this really made one’s mood become complicated. Sometimes, he even industriously and conscientiously accepted rubbish.

All the gods were astonished.

For things to become like this, it was really unimaginable. It was to the extent that nowadays, if someone told the other that, “You gave birth to a son who is Xian Le’s Crown Prince”, that would be much more malicious than cursing out the other party’s descendants.

In any case, he was once the peerless beauty His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had been ranked as Heaven’s official. To be muddled to this state, there really wasn’t anyone else like him. The so-called laughingstock of the three realms was exactly due to this reason.

After laughing, those who were more sentimental would perhaps sigh. The proud and aloof son of the Heavens from the past truly disappeared.

His Godly statues toppled over, and his ancient country was destroyed with not a single believer left. Slowly, he became someone gradually forgotten by the world. Thus, no one knew where he had wandered off to.

To be banished once was already extraordinary shame and humiliation. To be banished twice, no one could ever climb up again.

·

After many more years, there was suddenly a day where the Heavens was once again disturbed by a loud noise.

It was extremely violent as the ground quaked and the mountains shook.

The altar lamps that burned day and night trembled as their flames danced violently. Godly officials who were awakened departed from their own palace halls, rushing about as they asked, who is the upstart that ascended? This place is shaking so much!

Who knew, just after sighing ‘how amazing, how amazing’, at the next glance, all of Heaven’s Gods felt as if they were struck by lightning over and over again.

Are you still not finished?!

That famous weirdo, the laughingstock of the three realms, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from the legends, he he he —— he f*cking ascended to godhood again!


	2. Scrap-Collecting Immortal’s Third Ascension to Godhood

“Congratulations, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

Hearing those words, Xie Lian raised his head and smiled before he spoke, “Thank you. But may I ask what you’re congratulating me for?”

Ling Wen ZhenJun1 stood with her arms crossed as she said, “Congratulations for getting first place on the list of ‘Heaven’s Officials most anticipated to be demoted and banished to the mortal realm’.”

Xie Lian replied, “No matter how you say it, it’s still first place. But I think that if you’re congratulating me, then it should still be a position worth being happy about?”

Ling Wen stated, “Yes, if you’re first, you can get one hundred merits.”

Xie Lian responded immediately, “Next time, if there’s another list like this, by all means, please put me on it.”

Ling Wen asked, “Do you know who is in second place?”

Xie Lian thought for a moment before replying, “That’s too hard to guess. After all, just based on strength, I alone ought to be able to take the top three places.”

Ling Wen answered, “That’s more or less right. There isn’t a second place. The moment you started, others could only see your dust with no hopes of catching up.”

Xie Lin said, “I dare not accept the honor. Who was the first place winner from the previous years?”

Ling Wen stated, “There wasn’t one because this list was created this year. More accurately, it was set up today.”

“Eh,” Xie Lian blanked for a bit before asking, “Based on what you said, this list wasn’t created specifically for me, was it?”

Ling Wen responded, “You can think of it as luckily winning merely because you were coincidentally in time for it.”

Xie Lian said with a face full of smiles, “Alright, if I think about it like that, I’ll be slightly happier.”

Ling Wen continued to say, “Do you know why you would seize first place?”

Xie Lian replied, “Everyone expects it.”

Ling Wen explained, “Let me tell you the reason. Please look at that clock.”

She lifted her finger to point, and Xie Lian turned around to look in that direction. What one could see there was extremely beautiful. Gazing into the distance, one could see a palace made out of white jade, pavilions and kiosks, immortal clouds curling about with flowing streams and flying birds.

Xie Lian gazed for a long time before asking, “Did you perhaps point in the wrong direction? Where’s the clock?”

Ling Wen replied, “I didn’t point in the wrong direction. It’s there, have you seen it yet?”

Xie Lian looked carefully again before truthfully saying, “I don’t see it.”

Ling Wen responded, “You’re right not to see it. Originally, there had been a clock there, but it was shaken off when you ascended.”

“…”

“That clock was even older than you. Nevertheless, it had a lively and vivacious character. Every single time someone ascended, it would ring a few times to cheer them on. But on the day you ascended, it rang like it had gone crazy, unable to stop. Only when it fell down from the clock tower did it calm down. However, when it fell down, it smashed into a passing Heavenly Official.”

Xie Lian asked, “This… Then, are they okay now?”

Ling Wen: “No, they’re still being repaired…”

Xie Lian: “I’m referring to the Heavenly Official who was hit.”

Ling Wen replied, “The one who got hit was a martial god. He turned his hand over on the spot and split that clock into two halves. But now, please look over there at that golden palace hall. Do you see it?”

She pointed again, and Xie Lian’s gaze followed her finger once more. He saw a vast area covered in mist and clouds, before seeing the top of a resplendent palace roof made out of gold glass. Xie Lian said, “Ah, I see it this time.”

20171222_204123

Ling Wen responded, “If you see something, that means there’s something wrong. Originally there had been nothing there.”

“…”

“When you ascended, many Heavenly Officials’ golden palaces shook to the point that their golden pillars toppled over, and their glazed roofs shattered. Some palaces couldn’t be repaired in a short period of time. Without any better options, many people improvised and built new and temporary places.”

“I’m to blame?”

“You’re responsible for it.”

“Uh…” Xie Lian asked to confirm, “Did I happen to offend many Heavenly Officials the moment I came up?”

Ling Wen answered, “If you can redeem yourself, then perhaps you won’t.”

“What can I do to redeem myself?”

“That’s easy to answer. Eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits.”

Xie Lian smiled again.

Ling Wen said, “Of course, I know even one-tenth of that is something you can’t take out.”

Xie Lian replied in a frank and genuine manner, “How do I say this? Although I’m truly sorry for the inconveniences, even if you requested one ten thousandth of that, I still won’t be able to take it out.”

The conviction of believers in the secular world could be converted into a Heavenly Officials’ spiritual power. Every incense stick they burned as offerings was called ‘merits’.

His smile disappearing, Xie Lian seriously asked, “Would you be willing to punt me down from here with one kick, and then give me eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits?”

Ling Wen stated, “I am a literature god. If you want someone to kick you, you ought to find a martial god. The harder you get kicked, the more merits you’ll receive.”

Xie Lian heaved a deep sigh. “Allow me to think about what to do.”

Ling Wen patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t lose your head. When you encounter a mountain, there will always be a way through.”

Xie Lian responded, “In my case, when the boat reaches the pier head, it will naturally sink.”

If it was eight hundred years ago, during Xian Le nation’s most prosperous time, eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits weren’t a big problem. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would wave his hand and give them, not even blinking over such a loss. But the present was now different from the olden days. In the secular world, all of his temples had already long burned away, not a single one remaining. He had no believers, no incense, and no worship.

It was needless to say more. He just had nothing, nothing, not a single thing!

One person squatted at the edge of the Immortal City’s main street as they had a headache for quite a while, before he suddenly remembered something. It had already been almost three days since he had ascended, yet Xie Lian had not entered the spirit communication array. Just then, he had also forgotten to ask Ling Wen for the password.

The Heavenly Officials who had ascended united together to create a spirit communication array. It was possible for them to use their divine sense and immediately communicate with each other within the array; and after ascending, it was imperative for the new gods to enter it. However, one must know the password to be able to locate the particular array. It had already been eight hundred years since Xie Lian had last entered the spirit communication array, thus he certainly hadn’t remembered the password. So he released his divine sense to look around before he found an array that seemed to resemble it. As he casually entered, he was immediately hit in all directions by violent and excited voices so powerful that he became a bit unsteady.

“Place your bets, no take-backs! Come bet how long our Royal Highness the Crown Prince can persevere before he’ll have to descend once more!”

“I bet one year!”

“One year is too long, last time he only lasted the time span of one incense stick. Perhaps this time he’ll persist for three days? I’ll place a bet for three days, three days!”

“Don’t ah, you dunce! Three days have almost gone by already. Are you gonna be okay?”

… Xie Lian silently left the array.

Wrong place. It definitely couldn’t be this one.

The deities in Heaven were all big-shot Heavenly Officials who oversaw their own region; and each one of them were a household name among a great number of people. Because they were all Heavenly Officials who had seriously cultivated to ascend, they were dignified and were usually quite reserved. More often than not, their speech and behaviour had an air of arrogance. There would only be him who, because he had been too excited the first time he had ascended, had went and grabbed every Heavenly Official in the spirit communication array to make his greetings. Xie Lian had been incomparably earnest as he introduced himself, and his thoroughly detailed introduction was unparalleled.

After he had retreated from the previous array, he began randomly searching once more. Finally, he casually entered another array again. After entering this time, Xie Lian relaxed a bit as he mentally thought: “It’s so quiet here. This is probably the one.”

At that moment, he heard a voice lightly say, “Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned again?”

At first, this sound was extremely comfortable to hear. The voice was soft and the tone was gentle. However if one listened to it closely, they would realize that the voice sounded extremely cold, and the speaker’s tone appeared very indifferent as well. Thus, it made that gentleness seem as if it harboured some evil intentions.

Originally, Xie Lian had wanted to enter the array in a restrained and well-behaved manner. Silently lurking there was good enough. However, since someone was already looking for him to chat, he couldn’t pretend to be mute and deaf. He was also extremely happy that a Heavenly Official in Heaven was still willing to take the initiative to talk to him, a god personifying pestilence. Thus, he quickly replied, “That’s right, ah! Hello everyone! I returned again.”

How would he know that after this one question and response—every Heavenly Official in the spirit communication array at that moment all perked up their ears.

That Heavenly Official continued to speak in a leisurely manner, “This time, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s ascension made a really big commotion, ah.”

Within Heaven, it could even be said that monarchs were walking around everywhere, while heroes were as common as water flowing in rivers.

If one wished to become an immortal god, they must first become an outstanding individual. In the mortal realm, people who achieved and accomplished many goals or people who had a lot of talent, of course, had a larger opportunity to ascend. As a result, it wasn’t exaggerated to say that princesses, princes, and generals weren’t a rare sight to see here. Who wasn’t a proud child of the Heavens? However, everyone was still extremely polite and courteous to each other, calling one another ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’ or ‘General Lord’. They would say whatever sounded more complimentary. But for the prior words spoken by the Heavenly Official, that title he used no longer sounded like a polite gesture.

Although Xie Lian had been a Crown Prince, and the other had greeted him thus—his tone didn’t have even a bit of respect. It rather sounded as if he was trying to use a needle to stab someone. There were many other Heavenly Officials who had been genuine Crown Princes within the spirit communication array, and those few greetings simply made goosebumps appear on their backs as they felt uncomfortable from head to toe. Xie Lian also heard the ill intentions in the other’s voice, but he did not want to make a scene. Thinking to himself that he would escape, he replied with a smile, “It was okay.”

However, the Heavenly Official didn’t give him a chance to escape. He spoke in a voice that was neither warm nor cold, “Huh, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince is okay? My luck was not that good.”

Suddenly, Xie Lian heard a whisper from Ling Wen.

She only said a single word, “Clock.”

Xie Lian instantly understood. So this had been the martial god who got smashed by that clock!

If that was the situation, then the Heavenly Official being angry wasn’t something without reason. Xie Lian had always been extremely good at apologizing and thus immediately said, “I’ve heard about the incident with the clock. I’m extremely sorry, please pardon me.”

The other snorted once, making it impossible for anyone to tell what he meant by it.

There were many martial gods within Heaven and among those, quite a few were new upstarts who had ascended after Xie Lian left. This was why he was unable to pinpoint which god this was just by listening to his voice. However, one couldn’t apologize without even knowing the other’s name. Thus, Xie Lian went to the heart of the matter and asked, “Excuse me, may I ask how I should address you, distinguished one?”

The moment he said those words, the other party became silent.

It wasn’t only the other god who became silent. The entire spirit communication array seemed to freeze as if a puff of stagnant air slapped everyone in the face.

On the other side, Ling Wen whispered to him once more, “Your Highness, though I don’t believe you haven’t recognized the other person after talking to him for so long—I still want to remind you. That is Xuan Zhen.”

Xie Lian asked, “Xuan Zhen?”

He choked up in a flash before finally reacting as he sent a message back in slight shock, “This is Mu Qing?”

Xuan Zhen Jun was a martial god who kept watch over the Southwest. He had seven thousand temples, and in the mortal realm, his reputation was illustrious.

This Xuan Zhen Jun, who had the personal name Mu Qing, used to be a deputy general in the Palace Halls of Xian Le country’s Crown Prince eight hundred years ago.

Ling Wen was also very shocked. “It couldn’t be that you really didn’t recognize him?”

Xie Lian replied, “I really didn’t recognize him. Back then, he didn’t talk to me in this manner. In addition, I can’t even remember when was the last time I met him. If it wasn’t five hundred years then it was six hundred years ago. I almost completely forgotten what he looked like, so how could I still recognize his voice?”

It remained silent within the spirit communication array. Mu Qing didn’t make a single peep. The other Heavenly Officials, on one hand pretended that they weren’t listening, while on the other hand they crazily waited for someone to continue talking.

When it came to these two, it was relatively awkward. After so many years, many rumors had been passed on, so everyone already understood almost everything. In those days when Xie Lian had been the precious Xian Le Crown Prince, he cultivated in Huang Ji Temple. That Huang Ji Temple was the Xian Le country’s Imperial Taoist Temple. Their selection standards for disciples were extremely strict. Mu Qing came from a poor background, and his father was a sinner who had been beheaded. A person like that simply did not have the qualifications to enter the Huang Ji Temple as a disciple. As a result, he had no other choice but to become someone who did odd jobs. In the temple, he was mostly in charge of sweeping the floor for His Highness the Crown Prince, or delivering tea and water to him. But Xie Lian saw he was assiduous, and thus he asked the Taoist Ministers to make an exception and receive him as a disciple. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s words carried great weight. Only then was Mu Qing able to enter the temple to cultivate because of the Crown Prince’s will. After Xie Lian ascended, he appointed him as his general and took Mu Qing along with him to the Immortal City.

However, when the Xian Le nation was wiped out and Xie Lian was demoted to descend into the mortal realm, Mu Qing did not follow him. Not only did he not follow Xie Lian, but Mu Qing didn’t even say a single word in defence for him. The Crown Prince was gone anyway, so he was free. He found a blessed place and began to painstakingly cultivate like crazy. Not many years later, he withstood the Heavenly Tribulations and ascended himself.

Back then, one was in the heavens while another was on the ground. Now, there was still one in the heavens and one on the ground, it was just that the two people’s circumstances were thoroughly reversed.

At the other end, Ling Wen said, “He’s really angry.”

Xie Lian replied, “I guessed that too.”

Ling Wen responded, “I’ll go say some other things. Quickly take the opportunity to leave.”

Xie Lian said, “There’s no need. If we pretend nothing happened then everything would be fine.”

Ling Wen asked, “No need? Just looking at you guys make me feel awkward.”

Xie Lian replied, “I’m still okay ah!”

For Xie Lian, any situation was okay as long as he didn’t die. He didn’t have much, but he could definitely still lose a lot of face. He had already done plenty of things that were many times more awkward than this; so he really felt okay in his heart. Who would have thought he shouldn’t have said that so early; Xie Lian had just said the words ‘still okay’ when he heard a voice roar, “Who the f*ck dismantled my golden palace?! Come out!”

This one roar made the Gods listening within the spirit communication array feel as if their scalps were going to explode.

Though their stomachs were already flipping, everyone still held their breaths as they listened with rapt attention. They didn’t make a single peep as they waited to see how Xie Lian would respond to the loud cursing. But nobody expected that instead of something exciting—they would hear something even more thrilling. Xie Lian hadn’t even started talking before Mu Qing spoke first.

Mu Qing laughed twice. “Haha.”

The person who came coldly said, “You were the one who tore it down? Alright, wait for it.”

Mu Qing faintly replied, “I did not say it was me. Don’t randomly spray blood at people.”

The other person asked, “Then why are you laughing? Are you mentally ill?”

Mu Qing answered, “It isn’t like that. What you’ve just said was funny, that’s all. The person who destroyed your golden palace is currently in the spirit communication array, you can go and ask him yourself.”

With things evolving to this degree, no matter what, Xie Lian felt too embarrassed to escape now.

He coughed dryly before saying, “It was me. I’m sorry.”

The moment he spoke, the person who came later also became silent.

By his ear, Ling Wen again transmitted a message. “Your Royal Highness, that is Nan Yang.”

Xie Lian responded, “This time, I recognized him. However, I think he hasn’t recognized me.”

Ling Wen replied, “No. It’s just, he spends most of his time in the mortal realm and less time in the Immortal City. Thus, he merely didn’t know you had ascended again.”

Nan Yang ZhenJun was the martial god who oversaw the Southeast. He was popular and had nearly eight thousand temples, receiving the love and respect from the common people.

In addition, his personal name was Feng Xin. Eight hundred years ago, he was the first general of the Xian Le Crown Prince’s Palace Hall.

Feng Xin was a devoted and loyal person. He was Xie Lian’s Imperial bodyguard ever since the other had been fourteen years old. Feng Xin grew up with the Crown Prince, entered the Heavens with him, was demoted with him, and was banished with him. Unfortunately, he was unable to endure those eight hundred years with Xie Lian. In the end, they separated on bad terms and parted ways, never to see each other again.

1\. ZhenJun is a title. Zhen means ‘genuine’ while Jun means Lord. Later, one character will also have the title ZhenJun while another will just be called Jun. ↩


	3. Scrap Collecting God's Third Accession to Godhood Pt.1

A former superior master was reduced to a laughingstock of three realms; someone who didn’t have incense offerings, temples, or believers. The two retainers who had once sat underneath him both passed Heaven’s tribulations, ascending and becoming strong martial gods who each oversaw a whole region. With circumstances like this, it was impossible for people to not wonder more. If you were to ask Xie Lian to choose whether Feng Xin or Mu Qing made him feel more awkward, he would say, “They’re all okay ah!”

However, if you asked bystanders whether they wanted to see Xie Lian fight Feng Xin or if they wanted to see Xie Lian fight Mu Qing, then everyone would make different choices according to their tastes. After all, there were abundant reasons for either pair to fight, so it was hard to pick which was the more interesting option.

Therefore, when there was no response from Feng Xin’s side for a long time because he had unexpectedly stopped talking and instead immediately hid, everyone felt utterly disappointed. Meanwhile, Xie Lian collected his tail and beat himself down a bit as he said, “I also didn’t anticipate making a commotion like this. It wasn’t deliberate, I’ve inconvenienced everyone.”

Mu Qing responded in a cool manner, “Oh, then that was indeed quite coincidental.”

Coincidental? Xie Lian also thought it was really too coincidental. How could the clock fall right onto Mu Qing, while his ascension also happened to destroy Feng Xin’s palace? For bystanders, it was as if he was deliberately taking revenge. However Xie Lian was the type of person that, should there be a thousand cups of wine with only one poisoned, Xie Lian would always manage to pick the poisoned one. But there was no way to control what other people believed, so Xie Lian could only say, “I will try my best to compensate for everyone’s golden palaces and other losses. I also hope you may give me some time.”

One didn’t need a brain to understand that Mu Qing definitely wanted to continue his sarcastic remarks. However, since Mu Qing’s golden palace didn’t suffer any losses and even the clock that fell onto him was sliced into two halves, continuing to be overbearing would appear unsightly and something beneath his identity. Therefore, Mu Qing also concealed himself before falling silent. When Xie Lian saw that the terrible problems had left by themselves, he also quickly fled.

He was still genuinely pondering over where he was supposed to get those eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits the next day, when Ling Wen invited him to go to her Ling Wen Palace Hall.

Ling Wen was the Heavenly Official in charge of managing Heaven’s personnel. When mortals wished to get a step ahead in their careers, they would worship her. From the ground to the very top, the whole Palace Hall was filled to the brim with official documents and scrolls. This kind of scene was utterly shocking, one that would make anyone shiver with fear. As Xie Lian walked forward, he saw that every Heavenly Official coming out of Ling Wen’s Palace Hall dragged out an exceptionally tall stack of paperwork. Their faces were pale; and if they didn’t have an expression that looked as if they were about to collapse, then they had a look of numbness. When the two of them finally entered the Palace Hall, Ling Wen turned around and got straight to the point. “Your Highness, there is a matter in which the Emperor would like to request your help. Are you willing to assist him and lend a helping hand?”

In Heaven, there were many people who had the titles ZhenJun or YuanJun. However, only one person could be called the Emperor. But if that person wanted to do something, then there would never be the need for him to beseech other people. This was why Xie Lian stared blankly for a bit before he replied, “What matter?”

Ling Wen handed him a scroll before explaining, “Recently, the North has a large number of zealous worshippers repeatedly praying for blessings. It can be assumed that they aren’t passing their days peacefully.”

These so-called zealous worshippers generally referred to three types of people. First, rich people: they paid money in order to burn incense and build temples for gods. The second category consisted of those missionaries who would preach to bystanders. And, last but not least, the third type of zealous worshippers were people whose body and mind were thoroughly doused in faith and belief. Among them, most of these worshippers belonged to the first category, since in this world, the rich were like carps passing through rivers. The third category had the least people, because if one was truly able to get to that level of faith, then their degree of proficiency was surely quite high, and they wouldn’t be far from ascending themselves. The people Ling Wen mentioned was clearly from the first category.

Ling Wen continued to speak, “At present, the Emperor cannot attend to the North. If you are willing to take his place and make the trip, when the time comes, regardless of how much offerings these zealous worshippers make, everything will be allocated to your altar. What do you think?”

Xie Lian received the scroll with both hands as he said, “Many thanks.”

This was evidently Jun Wu helping him, but instead he flipped it around and made it sound as if he was asking Xie Lian for his help. How could Xie Lian not see through that? However, he couldn’t find more fitting words to express what he thought in place of the two words he had just said. Ling Wen replied, “I’m only responsible for handling these affairs. If you want to thank someone, you should wait for the Emperor to return before personally thanking him instead. —Oh right, do you need my help borrowing any magical artefacts?”

Xie Lian answered, “There’s no need. Even if you give me a magical artefact, once I go down I won’t have any spiritual power, and so I won’t be able to use it.”

Xie Lian had been beaten down twice, so he lost his spiritual power. It was easier to cope in the Heavens, the place where all the immortals assembled. After all, spiritual power was abundant and the source won’t dry up, thus he could casually grab some to use. However, once he returned to the mortal realm, he would be powerless. If Xie Lian wanted to fight with magic, then he could only make do by finding someone he could borrow spiritual energy from, something extremely inconvenient.

Ling Wen pondered for a moment before saying, “Then it would be best to borrow a few martial gods to assist you and lend a helping hand.”

The current martial gods either didn’t recognize him, or they didn’t like him. Xie Lian understood that thoroughly, and so he responded, “There’s also no need for that. You won’t be able to borrow anyone.”

However, Ling Wen seemed to have taken it into serious consideration and only said, “I’ll give it a try.”

There wouldn’t be a difference whether she tried or not, therefore Xie Lian didn’t approve or oppose her words, and allowed Ling Wen to try. As a result, Ling Wen entered the spirit communication array before announcing in a bright tone, “Everyone, the Emperor has an important task to be handled in the North and urgently need people. Which martial god Highness can lend out two martial officials from their Palace Halls to help?”

The moment her voice faded, Mu Qing’s floaty voice emerged, “I’ve heard that the Emperor isn’t in the North right now, so I’m afraid you’re borrowing people for His Highness the Crown Prince, right?”

Xie Lian mentally thought: “Are you keeping guard at the spirit communication array all day long…?”

Ling Wen was on the same wavelength as him. Although she only wanted to slap the Mu Qing who was hindering her work right out of the array, she started speaking with a smile. “Xuan Zhen, why am I always seeing you in the array these two days? It seems like you’ve been stealing time to slack off and now you’re quite idle. Congratulations, congratulations.”

Mu Qing replied in a light tone, “My hand is injured, so I’m recuperating.”

Every Heavenly Official there mentally thought, “In the past, it would be nothing difficult for that hand of yours to split a mountain in half. So, what would hacking a foolish clock into pieces do to you?”

Originally, Ling Wen had wanted to deceive two people to come work before explaining the details. But not only did Mu Qing guess those details in one try, he even said them out loud. With the circumstances now, it was certain she wouldn’t be able to find anyone. Sure enough, no one else answered her inquiry for quite a while. Xie Lian also didn’t believe anyone would come forward, and thus told her, “You see, I said you wouldn’t be able to borrow anyone.”

Ling Wen responded, “If Xuan Zhen didn’t say anything, I would have indeed been able to.”

Xie Lian smiled. “Those words of yours had been as if you were carrying a pipa, but concealing half its face, beautifully blurring the scene to some degree. People would have thought they were going to help the Emperor with some work, so of course they would come. But when they come and realize they were going to have to work with me, I’m afraid there would be trouble. How could we work together like that? In any case, I’m used to being alone, and I’m not missing an arm or a leg, so let’s just go with this ah. Thank you for your trouble, I’ll leave now.”

Ling Wen was also powerless. Thus, she cupped her hands in a salute before saying, “Alright. I wish Your Highness’ journey goes smoothly, and may the blessings of Heaven’s Officials be upon you.”

Xie Lian replied, “All taboos are off!1” Waving his hand, he left in a confident and carefree manner.

Three days later, mortal realm, the North.

By the side of a major road, there was a small teahouse. The storefront wasn’t big and the shopkeepers were simple folks, but goods were expensive because the scenery was good. There were mountains and bodies of water, there were people and a city. They had everything, not much of everything—not much, but just right. Located in the middle of such scenery, if one were to come across the teahouse by chance, it would certainly create a wonderful memory. The teahouse’s tea sommelier was exceedingly idle, since he currently didn’t have any customers. Thus, he moved a small stool to the door of the store and began looking at the mountain, the water, the people and the city. He was happily looking when, from afar, he saw a Taoist clad in white walking over. The Taoist was covered in dust, looking as if he had been walking for a very long time. When he came closer, he walked past the small teahouse, before suddenly stopping in his tracks and slowly retracing his steps. The Taoist tilted up his bamboo hat with his hand before raising his head. He only took one glance at the store before he started speaking with a smile. “‘Chance Encounter’ little store, the name is interesting.”

Although this person had a tired appearance, he also had a face full of smiles. It made the people looking at him unable to stop the corners of their own mouths from curving up. The Taoist then asked, “Excuse me, may I ask if Mount Yu Jun is nearby?”

The tea sommelier pointed in a direction for him, before replying, “It is in this region.”

That person breathed out, and for once he didn’t spit out his soul with that breath. In his mind, he thought, “I’ve finally arrived.”

This person was precisely Xie Lian.

He left the Immortal City that day. Originally, he had already decided the location he would descend to; Xie Lian had wanted to fall near Mount Yu Jun. Who would have thought that when he left without a care and jumped down without a care, his sleeve would get caught on a carefree cloud. Yes, it got caught on a cloud. Even Xie Lian didn’t know how his sleeve got caught on a cloud. In any case, he tumbled around at a lofty, high altitude, and by the time he rolled down, he had no idea where he was. After three days on foot, he finally reached his originally planned arrival location. Thus, for a short while, he felt extremely moved.

Entering the teahouse, Xie Lian picked a table beside the window before asking for some tea and snacks. He finally got seated after his previous difficulties, when he suddenly heard endless wailing and the sound of beating drums from outside the room.

Xie Lian turned his gaze toward the street before seeing a group of people from all ages escorting a crimson-red marriage sedan as they walked past the teahouse.

This procession was surrounded by an extremely odd air. At first glance, they seemed to be the relatives delivering the bride. But if one looked closely, they would notice how the faces of these people all had solemn expressions—expressions of grief, anger, dread, yet the only emotion that wasn’t present was joy. Whatever the case, it didn’t have the appearance of a wedding. However, contrary to that thought, everyone was wearing red flowers as they played wind instruments and beat their drums. This situation was really too strange. That tea sommelier carried a copper teapot in his hand and raised it up high to pour some tea. He had also seen this scene, but he only shook his head before leaving.

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Xie Lian followed that strange, departing procession with his eyes, before pondering for a brief moment. He was just about to take out the scroll Ling Wen had given him to look over one more time, when he suddenly felt something dazzling flit by.

The moment Xie Lian raised his head, a silver butterfly flew past his eyes.

That silver butterfly was sparkly and translucent, looking pure and limpid. As it flew around in the air, it left behind bright traces. Xie Lian couldn’t help but reach out a hand toward it. This butterfly was extremely intelligent. Not only was it not frightened, it even temporarily stopped on his fingertips, both wings glittering and beautiful to the utmost degree. Under the sunshine, it looked as if it was a fragment of an illusion. After a moment, however, it flew away.

Xie Lian waved at it, something that could be considered as his goodbye. But when he turned back, his table had two more people sitting there.

This table had four sides. One person sat on the left and another sat on the right, each taking one side. Both people were teenage boys who looked around eighteen or nineteen years old. The one on the left was taller, with facial expressions that looked quite defined and brightly handsome. Within his gaze was an arrogant and obstinate light. The right side had very light skin. He looked delicate and pretty, yet also refined. However, his expression looked somewhat overly cold and apathetic, an appearance that made it seem as if he wasn’t too happy. In fact, the colour of the faces of both people didn’t look that great.

Xie Lian blinked his eyes before asking: “You two are?”

The person on the left replied: “Nan Feng.”

The person on the right responded: “Fu Yao.”

Xie Lian mentally thought: “It’s not like I’m asking for your names…”

At that moment, Ling Wen suddenly transmitted her voice over. She said, “Your Highness, there are two small martial gods from Middle Heaven who are willing to help. They’ve already gone down to look for you, so they should have arrived by now ah.”

The so-called Middle Heaven was naturally relative to Upper Heaven. The Heavenly Officials of Heaven could be simply and roughly divided into two categories: the ones that ascended, and the ones that didn’t. The Heavenly Officials of Upper Heaven had all ascended by relying on themselves. There were only about a hundred within the whole of Heaven, and they were each extremely precious. But within Middle Heaven, the deities there were the ones who were brought up by “appointing them as deputy”. Strictly speaking, their full names ought to be called “Fellow Heavenly Officials”. However, when people called them, more often than not they would leave out that “fellow” word.

Since there was an Upper Heaven and a Middle Heaven, was there a Lower Heaven?

There wasn’t.

Actually, when Xie Lian ascended for the first time, there really had been a Lower Heaven. At that time, Heaven was still divided as Upper Heaven and Lower Heaven. But later, everyone found a problem. When they introduced themselves and opened their mouths to say, “I am from Lower Heaven’s so-and-so”, it sounded truly unpleasant. With the ‘lower’ word existing, it made them feel especially inferior. Among the deities of Middle Heaven, there was definitely no shortage of talented people. Their spiritual power was rich and strong, and they were each excellent and well-known figures. The only difference between them and real Heavenly Officials was merely how they lacked experiencing a Heavenly Tribulation. But who knew when the day that Heavenly Tribulation they were waiting for would really come. Therefore, some people proposed to change a single word—turning introductions into ‘I am from Middle Heaven’s so-and-so’. This was much more pleasurable to hear, though they both had the same meaning. In short, after the change, Xie Lian hadn’t gotten used to it even after quite a while.

Xie Lian looked at these two small martial gods. With one face slightly more unpleasant than the other, it was unlikely they were “willing to come forward and help”. Thus, he couldn’t help but ask, “Ling Wen ah, I think they don’t look like they came down to help me, and instead it looks more like they want to retrieve my dog head. Did you deceive them to get them to come?”

Unfortunately, it seemed that this question of his wasn’t transmitted out. He was also now unable to hear Ling Wen’s voice by his ear. It was probably because he was so far away from the Immortal City, and it had been so long since he descended, so his spiritual power was all depleted. Xie Lian was incapable of doing anything else, so he first gave a smile to both the small martial gods before saying, “Was it Nan Feng and Fu Yao? To be willing to come and help me, let me thank you in advance.”

The two of them only nodded their heads, both appearing to have a somewhat lofty attitude. It seemed that the martial gods they were under had a rather illustrated reputation. Xie Lian had the tea sommelier bring two more cups of tea. Picking up his cup, he scraped the tea leaves before casually asking, “Which Highness’ Palace are you under?”

Nan Feng replied: “Nan Yang Palace Hall.”

Fu Yao said: “Xuan Zhen Palace Hall.”

“….”

This truly made one feel frightened.

Xie Lian swallowed a mouthful of tea before asking, “Your Palaces’ Generals allowed you to come?”

The both of them responded, “My Palace’s General didn’t know I came.”

Xie Lian thought for a bit before again asking, “Then, do you know who I am?”

If these two small martial gods came here because they were muddleheaded and thus deceived by Ling Wen, then after helping him, they would return to get scolded by their Palace’s General. Something like that certainly wouldn’t be worth it.

Nan Feng replied, “You are His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

Fu Yao said, “You are the correct path for the human world, you are the heart of the universe.”

Xie Lian choked once, before he asked Nan Feng in an uncertain manner, “Just now, did he roll his eyes?”

Nan Feng responded, “He did, let him scram.”

Nan Yang’s relationship with Xuan Zhen wasn’t good. This wasn’t a secret. So when Xie Lian heard of that matter, he didn’t really feel surprised. This was because, even back then, Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s relationship hadn’t been all that great. Only, in those days, he had been the master and they were the retainers. The Crown Prince said don’t argue ah, you guys have to become good friends, so the two of them endured and refrained from becoming hostile with each other. When they became extremely unhappy, at most, they merely use words to stab the opposite side. Muddling until today, there was no longer a need to be so insincerely courteous. Thus, even the worshippers from the Southeast and Southwest didn’t look upon each other in a positive light, while the Nan Yang Palace Hall and the Xuan Zhen Palace Hall had even more mutual hatred for each other. The two before him were a prime example. Fu Yao smiled sarcastically as he stated, “Ling Wen ZhenJun said that if you were willing, you could come. So, for what reason would I scram and leave?”

The word ‘voluntary’, saying it with his expression didn’t look convincing. Thus Xie Lian said, “Let me confirm once. Are you two really voluntarily doing this? If you’re not, by all means, don’t force yourself ah.”

The two of them both said, “I willingly volunteered.”

Looking at those two deeply depressed faces, Xie Lian mentally thought, the words the two of you actually wanted to say were ‘I want to commit suicide’, right?

“In short—”

Xie Lian began, “Let’s first discuss the real work. You guys already know why we came to the North this time, so I won’t start explaining from the beginning…”

The two of them both said, “I don’t know why.”

“….”

Xie Lian was incapable of doing anything and could only take out the scroll before saying, “Then it would be best if I explain everything from the start.”

It was said that many years ago in Mount Yu Jun, there was a bride and a groom who were about to be wed.

The couple loved each other very much. The bridegroom waited for the procession that delivered the bride, but even after waiting for a long time, he didn’t see the bride arrive. The bridegroom began to feel anxious, and thus began to look for the bride’s family. The result was his father-in-law and mother-in-law informing him that his bride had long set off. The two households reported this to the officials before they began looking in all directions. However, from beginning to end, they never found her. But even if she had been eaten by a fierce beast in the mountains, there should have been remains of an arm or a leg or what not. What was the justification behind her disappearing in thin air? Thus, it was inevitable that people harbored suspicions that the bride herself didn’t wish to marry, resulting in her colluding with the procession before escaping. But who would have known that after a few years, another new couple married and the nightmare repeated itself.

The bride disappeared again. However, this time she didn’t leave without a trace. On a small road, people found a foot that something hadn’t quite finished eating.

1\. This is from the first part of the Chinese saying “All taboos are off and all evil withdraws”. Honestly, it seems like Xie Lian said that as a customary reply to Ling Wen’s sentence about the blessing, AKA its unclear even in the raws why Xie Lian said that.↩


	4. Discussion Between Three Fools In The Ju Yang Temple At Night

Things started to get out of hand ever since then. In the hundred years afterwards, a total of seventeen brides went missing in the Mount Yu Jun region. Sometimes there would be a dozen or so years of peace. Other times, two brides would go missing in the time span of a short month. Before long, a frightening legend rapidly spread around: within Mount Yu Jun lived a ghost bridegroom. If he fancied a woman, he would kidnap her during her wedding procession before devouring the party of relatives that were sending her off.

Originally, this situation wouldn’t be communicated to the Heavens. Although there were seventeen missing brides, hundreds of thousands of other brides in the world had passed their wedding days safe and sound. In any case, it was impossible to find those brides or protect them now, so people had no other choice but to make due in this kind of event. The families who dared to marry their daughters off in this region merely lessened a bit, and the local newly-weds didn’t dare to make their weddings a big event. However, it was precisely the seventeenth bride who had a bigshot official for a father. This father rather doted on his daughter; and when he caught wind of this legend, he meticulously selected forty brave and outstanding military officials to escort his daughter to her bridegroom. However, despite all of his preparations, his daughter still disappeared.

This time, the ghost bridegroom really stabbed a hornet’s nest. This official could not find anyone in the human realm who could do anything to help. As a result, he furiously made an alliance with his government official friends, and then crazily performed a ritual. This official even followed an expert’s advice and opened the granary to help the poor. After making an uproar, he finally managed to startle a Heavenly Official. Otherwise, it would have been almost impossible for those tiny, mortal voices to reach a Heavenly Official’s ear.

Xie Lian said, “That’s more or less the big picture.”

As the two martial gods’ expressions looked very uncooperative, he wasn’t sure if they were listening or not. If they hadn’t been listening, Xie Lian didn’t have any choice but to explain the situation once again. Yet contrary to what he had expected, Nan Feng raised his head before wrinkling his forehead. He asked, “Do the missing brides have anything in common with each other?”

Xie Lian replied, “There were some rich brides and some poor ones. There were beautiful ones and ugly ones. Some were wives, and others were concubines. In short, the disappearances completely lack a pattern. One simply cannot determine the preferences of this ghost bridegroom.”

“Mm,” Nan Feng grunted once, before raising his tea cup and taking a sip. He seemed to have started pondering over their problem. On the other hand, Fu Yao didn’t even bother touching the tea cup Xie Lian pushed toward him. He just leisurely and continuously wiped his fingers with a white handkerchief before he asked indifferently, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, how did you decide that the ghost is a bridegroom? That can’t be certain. No one has ever seen it before. How can you tell if it’s a man or a woman, if it’s old or young? Are you thinking of things too simply?”

Xie Lian smiled before answering, “The conclusion written on this scroll was a summary by the Heavenly Officials from Ling Wen’s Palace Hall. ‘The ghost bridegroom’ is just the popular name used among the people. However, what you’ve said really makes sense.”

After these exchanges, Xie Lian realized that these two martial gods’ thought processes were quite sharp. Although their expressions didn’t look good, they weren’t careless about their work affairs. This made Xie Lian feel considerably gratified. Since the sky outside the window was darkening, the three of them temporarily left the small teahouse. Xie Lian put on his bamboo hat before he started to walk. After walking for a bit, he suddenly became aware that the two people behind him hadn’t followed. Bewildered, Xie Lian turned around to take a look, before realizing that those two were staring at him in bewilderment as well. Nan Feng asked, “Where are you going?”

Xie Lian replied, “I’m going to search for a place to stay. Fu Yao, why are you rolling your eyes again?”

Nan Feng asked again in bewilderment, “Then why are you walking toward the mountains and the wild?”

Xie Lian was accustomed to frequently eating and sleeping on the streets. As long as he could find a piece of cloth to spread on the ground, he could lie there for a night. Naturally, he was preparing to find a cave and light a fire, something he usually did. It was only after this reminder that he remembered; Nan Feng and Fu Yao were martial gods under their respective Palace Halls. If there was a Nan Yang or Xuan Zhen temple in the vicinity, they could directly enter it. Why would it be necessary for them to sleep outdoors in the wilderness?

In a short while, the three of them found a worn-out and damaged local shrine in an unremarkable and tiny corner. The plate holding the incense was broken, and the whole place gave the feeling that it was rarely frequented. The Earth God’s name was engraved on a small, round stone plaque. Xie Lian called out to him a few times. It had been many years since someone had called or made an offering to this local Earth God. When he suddenly heard someone calling him, his eyes widened. He saw the three of them standing in front of him. Even the area around their bodies was covered with a rich layer of divine light. It was simply impossible to see their faces clearly. Jumping up with great alarm, the Earth God trembled and shivered before asking, “Do the three Heavenly Officials have any orders for the humble me?”

Xie Lian nodded his head in greeting before speaking, “There are no orders. We merely wanted to ask if there are any General Nan Yang or General Xuan Zhen temples in the vicinity?”

The Earth God didn’t dare to slight them, and thus replied, “This, this, this…” He calculated on his fingers before saying, “Around five li1 from here, there is a temple to provide offerings to, to, to General Nan Yang.”

Xie Lian pressed both of his hands together before replying, “Many thanks.” However, that Earth God felt as if he was being blinded by those two dazzling lumps of divine light standing beside Xie Lian. Thus, he quickly concealed himself again. Meanwhile, Xie Lian fumbled around before finding some coins to use as an offering to the Earth God’s shrine. Then, upon spotting the incense sticks scattered to the side, he straightened them before lighting them up. During this process, Fu Yao had rolled his eyes so many times Xie Lian practically wanted to ask him if his eyes were tired.

As expected, five li later, they really spotted a temple. It was erected beside the roadside, and it looked to be popular and prosperous. Although the temple was rather small, everything one would need was there. Still, the place bustled with unusual excitement and noise as people came and left. The three of them concealed themselves before entering the temple. And sure enough, a Godly statue of an armoured Nan Yang Martial God holding a bow was precisely what was located on the altar for offerings.

The moment Xie Lian saw this Godly statue, he went “Uh huh…” once in his heart.

For a small temple in the countryside, the Godly statue itself and the paint on were created quite crudely. As a whole, the look of this statue contrasted hugely to Xie Lian’s impression of Feng Xin himself.

However, most Heavenly Officials were accustomed to how their Godly statues were inaccurately depicted. Don’t mention how their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them, there were some Heavenly Officials who couldn’t even recognize their own Godly statues. After all, there weren’t many master artists who had met the Heavenly Officials personally. Therefore, these statues were either beautiful to the extreme, or immensely ugly. One could only rely on the statue’s specific posture, their weapon, and their garments to recognize which Heavenly Official the statue was depicting.

Generally speaking, the richer the area it was built on, the closer the Godly Statues would look when compared to the Heavenly Officials themselves. The poorer the place, the more inferior the artist’s taste, which would result in the Godly statue becoming a truly tragic sight. Until now, only General Xuan Zhen’s Godly statues were rather nice as a whole. Why? It was because most Heavenly Officials didn’t really care if ugly Godly statues of themselves were made. However, whenever Xuan Zhen saw someone make an ugly Godly statue of himself, he would stealthily break it to make the artist remodel it. Sometimes, he would even create a vague dream to express his dissatisfaction to the artist. Thus after a while, all the believers now knew they needed to create a nice-looking statue of their master!

Members of the Xuan Zhen Palace Hall had a personality similar to their General’s. All of them were rather fond of paying attention to detail. Within one shichen2 of entering the Nan Yang temple, Fu Yao continuously found fault in the details of the Godly statue. It was either “the shape was distorted”, or “the colours of the paint were vulgar”, or “the technique the artist used was of inferior quality”. He even commented on how the artist’s tastes were too strange. When Xie Lian saw how the veins on Nan Feng’s forehead were slowly bulging, he began thinking about how he should quickly find another topic to divert his attention. Coincidentally, Xie Lian saw yet another young lady come inside to pay homage to Nan Yang. As she piously kneeled, he began to talk warmly. “All things considered, Nan Yang ZhenJun’s home ground is in the Southeast. I didn’t expect the incense burning for Nan Yang to be this strong in the North as well.”

When mortals constructed temples, they were actually trying to imitate the Palace Halls in the Heavens. The Godly statues, on the other hand, were supposed to be a reflection of the Heavenly Officials themselves. The gathered believers at a temple and the incense they burnt became a Heavenly Official’s important source of spiritual power. In addition, as a result of every individual’s geographical location, history, social customs, class and many other reasons, people living in different areas normally worshiped different Heavenly Officials. Every Heavenly Official’s spiritual power was the strongest on their own turf, which was also known as the home field advantage. Only a deity like the Martial God Heavenly Emperor could have believers in every nook and cranny under the sky. He was a Heavenly Official with temples erected in every direction, so whether or not Jun Wu was on his ‘home ground’ didn’t have any meaning. Nan Feng should have been proud that incense was burning so vigorously at a temple not on his General’s domain. However, looking at the complexion of his visage, it didn’t appear like it was a good thing to him. Fu Yao stood to the side and smiled faintly before saying, “Not bad, not bad. General Nan Yang receives no small measure of love and respect.”

Xie Lian responded, “Although, I have a question. I don’t know…”

Nan Feng cut him off. “If you wish to say ‘I don’t know whether it’s something suitable to ask’, then just don’t say it.”

Xie Lian mentally thought, “No, I wanted to say, ‘I don’t know whether anyone could answer it’.”

However, Xie Lian had the premonition that the response to his question would be far from good. Thus, he decided that it was still better for him to change their conversation topic once more. Unfortunately, who would have thought that Fu Yao would choose to leisurely speak up now. “I know what you wanted to ask. You must have been wondering, out of so many believers who had come here today, why were there such a large amount women, right?”

That was precisely the question Xie Lian had wanted to ask.

A martial god’s female believers were always less than the male believers. Only he had been an exception eight hundred years ago, and the explanation behind this exception was very simple. It consisted only of a few words: he was good-looking.

Xie Lian thoroughly and clearly understood this fact. It hadn’t been because he was a person of virtue and prestige, nor was it because he was extraordinarily talented. It had only been because his Godly statues looked nice, and his temples also looked nice. Almost all of his temples were built by the imperial household, and his Godly statues were made by the top artists across the country. His statues had also been carefully sculpted according to his real face. Moreover, because of his phrase, ‘body in the abyss, but heart in paradise’, the artists usually liked adding flowers to his Godly statues. In addition, they were also fond of turning his temples into a sea of flowering trees. As a result, back then, he had another name. Xie Lian was also known as the ‘Flower Crown Martial God’. Thus, the women loved how his Godly statues were pretty, and they also liked how his temples were filled with flowers. That was enough to make them dash over. Fortunately, they were also conveniently willing to come in and pay their respects to him.

However, normal martial gods were usually surrounded by heavy killing intent. Thus, more often than not, the appearances of their Godly statues were solemn, fierce, or callous. For female believers, they would rather worship the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, rather than stare at statues like that. And although this Godly statue of Nan Yang was far from releasing killing intent due to its appearance, it was still far from something considered to be good-looking. Still, there were almost more female believers who came to pay homage to Nan Yang than male believers. In addition, it was clear that Nan Feng unexpectedly didn’t want to answer this question. Thus, Xie Lian found things to be quite weird. At that moment, that young girl finished paying homage and got up to light some incense. She also turned around.

When Xie Lian saw her turn around, he slightly pushed the other two people. Originally, neither of them were resistant to looking. Being pushed like that, they casually followed his gaze. However, this one look made both of their expressions suddenly change.

Fu Yao yelled, “Too ugly!”

Xie Lian choked for a moment before he managed to speak, “Fu Yao, you can’t say something like that about a girl.”

In all fairness, what Fu Yao said was the truth. That young lady’s face was incomparably flat, as if someone had flattened it by giving her a hard slap. In addition, if one said her facial features were mediocre, then it would cause the word ‘mediocre’ to feel wronged. If someone had to give her appearance a description, Xie Lian was afraid they could only use the phrase ‘a crooked nose and slanted eyes’.

However, Xie Lian absolutely didn’t distinguish whether she was beautiful or ugly. The main reason was, when she turned around, a gigantic hole could be seen at the back of her skirt. It was truly impossible to pretend they had not seen it.

Fu Yao was shocked at first, but he quickly calmed down. On the other hand, the pulsing veins on Nan Feng’s forehead disappeared without a trace.

When he saw how their complexion changed, Xie Lian hurriedly said, “Don’t fret, don’t fret.”

After that, young girl retrieved her incense and she kneeled down once more. Then she began to pay her respects as she started to talk, “Protect us, General Nan Yang. Female believer Little Ying prays that the ghost bridegroom will be captured as soon as possible. Don’t let innocent people suffer his evil…”

She did her worshiping in a truly devout manner, totally oblivious of the hole on her skirt. She was also completely unaware of the three people crouching by the foot of the Godly statue she was paying her respects to. Xie Lian felt a headache as he asked, “What should we do? We can’t let her leave like this, can we? She’ll be seen by everyone on her way home.”

Moreover, the tear on her skirt looked as if it was deliberately created by someone with a sharp object. Xie Lian was afraid that not only would there be people who would come and watch, there would also be people who would wantonly ridicule her, creating a public spectacle. Something like that would truly be humiliating.

Fu Yao replied indifferently, “Don’t ask me. The one she’s worshiping isn’t my General Xuan Zhen. There wasn’t harassment, I didn’t see anything.”

On the other hand, Nan Yang’s handsome face just alternated between green and white. He could only wave his hand around, but he couldn’t say anything. A proper and proud lord was forced into becoming a mute. It was clear you could no longer count on him. Thus, Xie Lian had no alternatives other than doing something himself. After thinking for a bit, he took off his outer robe and dropped it. Following a breeze, that robe floated toward the young girl’s body before blocking that indecent hole on her skirt. With that done, the three of them released a sigh of relief.

However, that gust of wind was really too perceptible. It scared the young girl and made her look around in all directions. She then took off that robe, hesitated for a moment, before placing it on the stage of the statue. She was still completely unaware of her own situation. As her incense had finished burning, she began to prepare to leave. If they really allowed her to walk out and about, Xie Lian was afraid that this young lady would no longer dare to face people because of her shame. When Xie Lian saw the two people beside him were just stiff and stiffer, both looking completely useless—he sighed a bit. Nan Feng and Fu Yao only felt the space by their sides empty before they realized that Xie Lian had already taken a form mortals could see and jumped down.

The lights in the temple weren’t dark, but they did make things look unclear. The jump of Xie Lian’s brought about another gust of wind, making the flames of the candles flicker. The young girl, Little Ying, only felt as if her sight shimmered before she saw a man abruptly emerge from that darkness. The upper part of his body was bare. Thus, when he extended a hand toward her, Little Ying’s soul basically flew away and scattered in fright.

As expected, the girl shrieked. Xie Lian was just about to speak, when the girl reflexively threw out a slap as she yelled, “Ah, harassment!”

“Pa!” Xie Lian earned a slap on his face.

The sound of the slap was sharp and clear. When they heard it, the faces of the two people who were still crouching by the Godly statue both began to rapidly twitch in the same way.

Although he suffered a slap, Xie Lian was neither annoyed nor angry. He only resolutely passed over his outer robe, before rapidly saying a few words in a quiet tone. Upon hearing him, that girl became shocked. The moment she touched the back of her skirt, her face immediately became red as her eyes filled with tears in less than a split second. One was unable to tell if she was angered to tears or shamed to tears, but she firmly grasped the robe Xie Lian gave her, before she rushed out of the temple and left. Only Xie Lian’s fragile-looking figure was left in that empty temple. When a cool breeze passed through, he suddenly felt a bit cold.

Xie Lian rubbed his face before he turned around. Sporting a red handprint on a cheek, he began speaking to the other two little gods. “Alright. Everything’s fine now.”

The moment his voice faded, Nan Feng pointed at him before asking, “You… Did your wound open?”

Xie Lian looked down before uttering an, “Oh”.

What was revealed after he took off his outer robe was pretty skin as white as jade. However, his chest was covered completely with layer after layer of white cloth, bound extremely tightly. Even his neck and both of his wrists were wrapped with bandages, with countless tiny wounds crawling from underneath the edges of the white cloth. It was truly a shocking sight.

After thinking about it, Xie Lian determined that his sprained neck should be fine by now. Thus, he began unbinding his bandages. Fu Yao gave him two glances before asking, “Who was it?”

Xie Lian replied, “What?”

Fu Yao elaborated, “Who was the one who fought against you?”

Xie Lian: “Fought? Ah, no one…”

Nan Feng: “Then these wounds on your body…”

Xie Lian hurriedly explained, “I fell by myself.”

“…”

They were the wounds he had accumulated as he rolled down from the Heavens. If he really had fought against someone, then it would be hard to say if he could even be wounded to this degree.

Fu Yao muttered something under his breath. Xie Lian couldn’t make out what he had said, but since it was certainly not praise for him trying to be strong, Xie Lian disregarded it. He just focused on unwrapping the cloth around his neck. Yet the moment he finished, Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s gazes became so concentrated, they practically solidified on his neck.

A black collar encircled his snow-white neck.

1\. An ancient Chinese unit of measurement, it is approximately 500m. Thus, 5 li would be around 2500m.↩

2\. One shichen is about two hours.↩


	5. Discussion between three fools in the Ju Yang Temple at night Pt.2

Sensing their gaze, Xie Lian smiled faintly before turning around. He asked, “Is it your first time seeing a genuine cursed collar?”

The cursed collar, as its name implied, was a curse that took the shape of a shackle.

The Heavenly Officials that were demoted and banished from Heaven would receive an imprint of their sins on their body, something that could be considered as the accumulation of Heaven’s wrath. This imprint took the form of a shackle, one that blocked the Heavenly Official’s spiritual power. It was something one could never break themselves from or lose. It was the same as stamping a tattoo on their face or binding their hands and feet with chains. It was a type of punishment and also a type of warning, one that made the person in question feel both fear and shame.

As the laughingstock of the three realms and one who had been banished from the Heavens twice, Xie Lian naturally had this kind of cursed collar imprinted on his body. It was impossible for these two small martial gods to not have heard of this fact. However, there was still a difference between hearing someone say it in passing and seeing it personally with their own eyes. Thus, Xie Lian could understand why the two martial gods would have that kind of expression on their faces.

He guessed that this cursed collar of his probably made them feel a bit afraid and uneasy. After all, this wasn’t the sign of a good thing.

Using the excuse that he needed a new top, Xie Lian originally wanted to slip outside and walk around. However, that didn’t happen because Fu Yao rolled his eyes and said, “It would be utterly obscene of you, should you go outside to stroll on the main street with your current appearance.” In the end, it was Nan Feng who casually grabbed some clothes from the temple for Xie Lian, stopping him from proceeding with his ‘obscene’ plan. But after Xie Lian tidied up and sat down again, he felt that after the previous events, the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward.

Therefore, Xie Lian took out the scroll Ling Wen Palace Hall had prepared for him before asking, “Do you guys want to take another look at this?”

Nan Feng lifted his head to give him a look before replying, “I’ve already seen it. I think he is the one who needs a better look.”

Fu Yao retorted, “What do you mean I should be the one to take a better look? That scroll didn’t even have any details—utterly worthless. Does it even deserve someone to keep reading it over?”

When he heard how Fu Yao said the scroll was utterly worthless, Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the literary gods of Ling Wen Palace Hall. Those gods wrote so many scrolls, their faces even turned ashen in colour. Then, Xie Lian heard Fu Yao continue to say, “Ah, where did we leave off at? Oh yes, the reason behind why Nan Yang has so many female worshipers, right?”

Okay then. Xie Lian put away the scroll before rubbing that pulsing spot in-between his eyes. In his mind, he knew that they wouldn’t be able to read anything tonight.

If no proper work could be done, then at least this situation could get cleared up. It turned out that apart from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who spent hundreds of years collecting rubbish in the human realm, nowadays all the other gods were aware of the reason. Nan Yang ZhenJun Feng Xin, had once been called the Ju Yang (Tremendous Masculinity) ZhenJun for some years. The person himself had abhorred this name. Toward what Feng Xin had experienced, other people could only sum up their feelings with the words: “What injustice!”

This was because, the original and correct way to spell his name was Ju Yang (Altogether Bright), but with a different Chinese character for ‘Ju’. The reason his name had been misinterpreted had been because of a small mishap.

Many years ago, a monarch wanted to renovate his temples. To show his sincerity, he personally wrote the words on a plaque for every temple hall. However, when he wrote the inscription on the plaque for Ju Yang Palace Hall, he somehow misspelled the first word.

This time, the official responsible for the temple renovation matters almost worried himself to death. He couldn’t make sense of it. In the end, was His Majesty deliberately changing the name? Or had he not been careful and made a mistake? If it was deliberate, why hadn’t he made a decree and state he wanted to change it to this? But if it wasn’t on purpose, how could he make this kind of low-level mistake? It wasn’t like he could go and say, “Your Majesty, you’re wrong”. Who knew if His Majesty would think he was mocking his carelessness? Maybe His Majesty would even think that he was suggesting his knowledge was superficial and his heart wasn’t sincere! In addition, this was made with his Majesty’s ink treasure. Was it going to become void?

The hardest thing to guess in this world was an Emperor’s intentions. That official was extremely conflicted. However, after thinking things over, he decided that it was better to cause Ju Yang ZhenJun some grief rather than making His Majesty feel wronged.

One had to admit that the official made the right decision. When His Majesty discovered that Ju Yang (Altogether Bright) had changed into Ju Yang (Tremendous Masculinity), he didn’t say anything. Instead, he invited a whole flock of scholars, before vigorously thumbing through ancient books. After finding countless minor details to justify the reason for the change, they wrote many articles, doing their utmost best to prove that the original spelling was Ju Yang (Tremendous Masculinity) and that Ju Yang (Altogether Bright) had been the wrong way to write it. In short, one night after this event, the whole nation’s Ju Yang (Altogether Bright) temples turned into Ju Yang (Tremendous Masculinity) temples.

The Feng Xin who had suddenly gotten a Godly title change didn’t find out about this matter until ten years passed. He had never carefully looked at the signs of his own temples before. One day, he just suddenly felt very gloomy. Why were there so many women who came to worship him in his temples? In addition, why was every one of them so shy, as they prayed with thoroughly red faces? What kind of things were they beseeching for when they lit the incense?

After he found out what happened, Feng Xin rushed into the summit of the firmament, faced the scorching sun and vast sky, before swearing a round of curses.

Unsurprisingly, he shocked all the Heavenly Officials there.

After he finished cursing, there wasn’t anything he could do. If they wanted to worship him, then he could only let them worship. It wasn’t like he could make life difficult for these pious and praying women. Thus, he braced himself before listening to their prayers for numerous years. This continued until an honourable monarch felt that this title Ju Yang (Tremendous Masculinity) was simply scandalous, and thus, he changed it to Nan Yang. However, people had not forgotten that other than being a martial god, Nan Yang was also a god who could offer blessings and protection. Just, everyone tacitly understood to never use those two words to address Nan Yang. At the same time, the other gods mutually knew how to assess Nan Yang ZhenJun. You only needed a few words: he was good!

As long as you didn’t make him curse people out, everything was well!

On that side, Nan Feng’s face had blackened so much, it could be compared to an old pot. But over here, Fu Yao was very excited as he spoke in a cultured manner, “A lady’s friend, the most effective when praying for a son. The secret booster for the virality of men, Nan Yang, deliverer of children. Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha ha……”

Xie Lian benevolently resisted the urge to smile, an attempt to leave some honour to the Godly statue of Nan Yang in front of them. Suddenly, Nan Feng spoke up in an angry tone, “Stop being so weird here. If you feel too idle, don’t panic, you can go sweep the floor.”

The moment he said those words, Fu Yao’s face also turned as black as a pot. If one said that the thing Nan Yang Palace Hall couldn’t tolerate hearing was their previous title, then the thing Xuan Zhen Palace Hall couldn’t bear hearing was sweeping the floor, that kind of thing. This was because, when Mu Qing had been doing the odd jobs at Huang Ji Temple, what he did all day was deliver tea to His Highness the Crown Prince Xie Lian, give him water, sweep the floor or make his bed. One day, Xie Lian saw how he would recite cultivation chants while sweeping the floor and became vigorously moved at how Mu Qing would take such pains and fight against adversity to study. This was what made him ask the Taoist Ministers for a favour, to receive Mu Qing as their disciple.

This matter…how does one phrase it? It was something that could be considered as important, or it could be considered as something insignificant. It could be shameful to the person in question, or it might not matter to him. However, for what that person thought, they evidently believed that this matter was the most humiliating thing they experienced in their whole life. This was because, both Mu Qing and all the martial gods in his Palace Hall would have a falling out with someone should they bring up that time. Sure enough, Fu Yao paused a bit before he stared at the very innocent Xie Lian, who was waving his hands and standing to the side. Fu Yao smiled sarcastically before saying, “Saying something like that, people who didn’t know would have thought that you gods at the Nan Yang Palace Hall would have aided His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Nan Feng also smiled sarcastically. “Your General is indeed someone who would kick their benefactor in their teeth, what more can you say?”

“Uh…” Xie Lian had just wanted to interfere in their argument, when Fu Yao started speaking with a chuckle, “Ah ha ha, your General is only a pot that calls the kettle black. What qualifications do you have to say these words?”

“…” Xie Lian couldn’t take it anymore as he watched the two of them use him as a big stick that hammered both of their General’s backs. He cut in, “Wait, wait! Stop it, stop it.”

Naturally, no one paid attention to him. In addition, they actually started fighting. Xie Lian didn’t know who attacked the other first; but in any case, the table for the sacrificial offerings cracked into two halves. The bowl with the fruits fell, and those fruits rolled everywhere on the floor. Seeing this, Xie Lian figured that it was probably impossible to hold them back from fighting. Thus, he sat down in a corner before sighing, “Ah, how unlucky”. He picked up the small steamed bun that had rolled to his side. Then, he rubbed and removed the skin before preparing to eat it.

However, when Nan Feng glimpsed this out of the corner of his eye, he immediately swept out his palm to hit that bun away. “Don’t eat it!”

Fu Yao also stopped, before he spoke in a shocked and a disdaining manner, “It even fell into the ashes. You can still stomach that?”

Xie Lian took the chance to wave his hands again. He said, “Stop, stop, stop. I have something to say.”

After separating the two martial gods, Xie Lian began in an amicable manner, “First, that Crown Prince you’re referring to is precisely me. This prince hadn’t even said anything, so don’t use me as your weapon to attack each other.” He paused for a moment before adding another sentence. “I believe that both of your Generals would never do something like this. For you to lack propriety like this, how would their prestige survive?”

The moment he said those words, the expressions of the two martial gods turned a bit strange. Xie Lian continued and said, “Second, you’re here to help me, right? Then, are you guys supposed to listen to me, or am I supposed to listen to you?”

After quite a while, the two of them finally said, “We’re supposed to listen to you.”

Although they said that, their faces looked as if they were saying, ‘dream on, for us to listen to you’. However, Xie Lian was already very satisfied with that response. Thus, he clapped his hands and said, “Alright. Lastly, the third and most important point—if it is necessary to abandon something, then please, just throw me away. Don’t ever throw away food.”

Meanwhile, Nan Feng finally dug out the steamed bun Xie Lian had picked up again and held in his grasp—the one Xie Lian planned to eat later when he found an opportunity. At the end of his patience, Nan Feng yelled, “If it fell on the ground, don’t eat it anymore!”

The next day, at the Chance Encounter little store.

The tea sommelier was once again sitting at the door, crossing his legs as he relaxed. From far away, he saw three figures slowly approaching. The Taoist who wore simple, white garments and carried a bamboo hat walked in front, while two tall teenagers who wore black clothes followed behind him.

That Taoist arrived idly with his arms crossed before he idly spoke, looking even more like an idle person than the tea sommelier himself. The Taoist said, “Mister, sorry for the inconvenience but may I get three cups of tea?”

The tea sommelier replied with a smile, “Coming!”

However, in his heart, the tea sommelier thought: these three foolish big brothers are here again! What a pity. Each one of them looked more respectable than the other, however, each of their brains are sicker as well! Always talking about this god or that immortal, this ghost or that heaven. These people are all mentally ill. No matter how dignified they looked, what was the use when they were like this?

Once again, Xie Lian picked a table beside the window. After they all sat down, Nan Feng spoke up, “Why do you want to come here to speak about this? Can you ensure others won’t hear us?”

Xie Lian replied in a warm tone, “It doesn’t matter. Even if others hear us, they wouldn’t do anything. They would only think we’re mentally ill.”

“…”

Xie Lian continued to speak, “In order to prevent the three of us from squandering our time like before, let’s get straight to the point. After having calmed down, did you guys think of any plans?”

Fu Yao’s eyes lit up as he responded in a cold tone, “Let’s kill it!”

Nan Feng snorted. “No sh*t!”

Xie Lian said, “Nan Feng, you don’t have to be this fierce. Fu Yao didn’t say anything wrong. The fundamental way to solve this problem is precisely to kill it. The problem is, where do we kill it? Who should we kill? How do we kill it? I suggest…”

At this moment, the sound of drums and fanfare once again drifted over from the street. Thus, the three of them looked out of the window.

untitled

Once again, it was that group of relatives who delivered the bride. The procession of both people and horses drummed their instruments as they yelled. Even their shouting had hints of a roar in it, as if they were afraid others could not hear them. Seeing this scene, Nan Feng frowned before asking, “Wasn’t it said that the native people living in and around the Mount Yu Jun region never dared to make a ruckus or throw a big celebration when they married?”

In the ranks of this procession, the people were all strong and sturdy tanned men. Their expressions and their muscles were all stretched tautly as their foreheads were covered in cold sweat. It was as if the thing they were carrying wasn’t a big marriage sedan filled with joy but was instead a guillotine that would seize their souls and cut off their heads, forcing them to death. Xie Lian wondered what kind of person was sitting in that marriage sedan.

Pondering for a bit, Xie Lian was about to go out to take a look when a puff of cold wind blasted over. The curtain on one side of the sedan followed the airflow and fluttered upward.

The person behind the curtain was using a very strange posture to lie crookedly in the sedan. Her head was also crooked, and what was revealed under her veil was a mouth painted with scarlet red. However, the corners of her smile were overly-exaggerated. The sedan jolted and that veil slid down, exposing a pair of round eyes. Eyes that were staring firmly in their direction.

This clearly looked like a woman who had broken her neck and was currently laughing soundlessly at them.

Xie Lian didn’t know if it was because the hands of the people carrying the sedan were shaking too much, for that sedan wasn’t very stable. That woman’s head also followed the sedan’s movements and swayed. It swayed and swayed…until THUD! A head fell down and rolled onto the street.

And that headless body also fell forward. With a loud bang, the whole person fell out the sedan door.


	6. The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan

One of the people carrying the sedan hadn’t been careful enough and stepped right onto an arm. Thus, they took the lead and started screaming first. In response, the crowd responsible for delivering the wife immediately exploded. A passer-by from who knows where fished out a shining white broadsword before yelling, “What’s wrong?! Did it come?!” What happened next was basically the streets becoming a complete mess. When Xie Lian once again refocused his gaze onto what had fallen out of the sedan, he suddenly realized that the separated head wasn’t from an actual living person. In fact, it was the head of a wooden doll.

Fu Yao once again remarked, “Too ugly!”

Coincidentally at this moment, the tea sommelier approached them with a copper teapot. Xie Lian remembered the tea sommelier’s expression from yesterday and asked, “Mister, yesterday I saw these people making a fuss on the streets, and today they’re here again. What are they doing?”

The tea sommelier replied, “They’re trying to die.”

“Ha ha ha……”

Xie Lian wasn’t surprised at his answer and thus asked another question. “Are they trying to trick the ghost bridegroom to come out?”

The tea sommelier responded, “What else do you think they’re trying to do? A missing bride’s father offered an extremely large monetary reward for anyone who manages to catch that ghost bridegroom and help find his daughter. This is why this crowd of people would create this disturbance and foul atmosphere all day long.”

The father who had offered that reward was probably that official they had previously discussed. Xie Lian took another look at that roughly made woman’s head lying on the ground and immediately understood that these people had wanted to disguise the doll as a new bride.

Then, he heard Fu Yao speak in a repulsed manner, “If I was the ghost bridegroom and someone gifted me an ugly thing like this, I would just wipe out this town.”

Hearing that, Xie Lian reprimanded him, “Fu Yao, those words aren’t something an immortal like you should say. Furthermore, can you correct that rolling eyes habit of yours? It would be best if you could set some small goals for yourself first, like only rolling your eyes five times a day and so on.”

Nan Feng spoke up as well, “Even if you give him a goal of rolling his eyes only fifty times a day, he still wouldn’t be able to accomplish it!”

At that moment, a youngster suddenly emerged from the crowd outside. Trembling with enthusiasm, it looked as if he was one of their leaders. That youngster waved his arms before yelling in a loud voice, “Listen to me, listen to me! Continuing like this is completely useless! How many rounds did we make these past few days? And did we manage to trick the ghost bridegroom out?”

One after another, the buff men began to grumble and agree with him. Seeing that, the youngster continued talking, “In my opinion, since we started this, we must carry through no matter what happens. It would be better to just directly rush into Mount Yu Jun. Everyone can search the mountain before catching and killing that ugly creature! I’ll take the lead; any brave and proper man can follow me. After we kill that ugly creature, we can share the reward!”

In the beginning, only a few sparse men yelled in agreement. Gradually, however, the voices of agreement grew until everyone was responding in an affirmative tone. They unexpectedly sounded quite powerful. On the other hand, Xie Lian asked, “Ugly creature? Mister, what is the matter behind this ‘ugly creature’ they’re talking about?”

The tea sommelier replied, “Rumours say that the ghost bridegroom is an ugly creature that lives on Mount Yu Jun. Because he was born too ugly, no women would like him. This is why his heart gave birth to resentment, and why he would snatch other men’s brides to prevent the couples from experiencing a happy occasion.”

There were no records of this on the scroll given to him by Ling Wen’s Palace Hall. Xie Lian asked again, “Do people actually say this? Isn’t this just speculation?”

The tea sommelier responded, “Who knows? But it is said that many people have seen the ghost bridegroom before. Something about how his whole face is wrapped in bandages leaving only his fierce eyes uncovered, and that he cannot speak, but rather roars like a beast. Currently, these rumours are circulating everywhere.”

Fu Yao retorted, “Covering his face with bandages doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ugly. It can also be because he’s too beautiful, so he doesn’t want other people to see him.”

The tea sommelier was speechless for a moment before saying, “Then who knows? In any case, I haven’t seen him.”

At that moment, a young girl’s voice emerged outside on the streets. She said, “You guys……you guys, don’t listen to him. Don’t go, Mount Yu Jun is very dangerous……”

The one who had spoken was the girl hiding at the corner of the street. She was also the girl who had been praying in Feng Xin’s temple yesterday night, Little Ying.

The moment Xie Lian saw her, his face started hurting. Unconsciously, he raised his hand and rubbed his cheek.

When the youngster saw her, his face turned a bit ugly. He pushed her out of the way before saying, “Us menfolk are speaking, so what is a little girl like you butting in for?”

Little Ying cowered and shrank back a bit after being pushed. However, she seemed to summon up all her courage before softly speaking again, “Don’t listen to him. Whether it’s pretending to hold a fake wedding or searching the mountain, these tasks are all so dangerous. Aren’t you just sending yourselves off to death?”

The youngster replied, “You can only say these pleasant words. All of us are working together and staking our lives to help the people rid an evil. And you? You’re just a selfish girl, one who refused to disguise yourself as a bride and sit on the sedan chair. You can’t even muster up that courage even if it could help everybody. And now, you’re running over here to hinder us again. What do you want to do?”

That youngster pushed the girl once for every sentence he said. Seeing this, the people in the teahouse couldn’t help but frown. Xie Lian lowered his head and focused on removing the bandages on his wrist. As he did this, he heard the tea sommelier explain, “That young leader previously wanted to coax that girl into disguising herself as a bride. At that time, he said so much sweet words it was like his mouth had been rubbed with honey. But after the girl refused, he flipped his face and became like this.”

On the street, the group of buff men also shouted, “Stop standing here and blocking the road. Go to the side, go to the side!” When Little Ying saw this, her flat face became completely red as tears started swirling in her eyes. She asked, “You……why do you have to say it like that?”

That youngster spoke up again, “Everything I said was the truth, wasn’t it? I asked if you could disguise yourself as a fake bride, and you wouldn’t do it no matter what.”

Little Ying replied, “Yes, I don’t dare to. However, you didn’t have to……have to tear open my dress……”

The moment she mentioned this, it was like she had jabbed the youngster’s sore spot. He immediately jumped up and refuted, “An ugly person like you shouldn’t randomly spray blood at people and accuse them! I teared open your dress? Do you think I’m blind? Who knows, maybe you just wanted to show yourself to other people, so you ripped it yourself! Who knows, your face is this ugly, even if your dress is torn maybe nobody would even want to take a look! Don’t try to pin the blame onto my head!”

Nan Feng really couldn’t continue listening to this. With a ‘ka-cha’, the teacup in his hands cracked and broke into pieces. However, just when he was about to get up, a white shadow floated past him. And that youngster who had been holding himself up high above the girl suddenly shouted. He face-planted before falling onto his butt as blood started dripping from his fingers.

No one had enough time to figure out what had happened, for he was already sitting on the ground. Thus, people thought that Little Ying had been the one who had injured him. However, who knew that when they turned their gazes back to Little Ying, they could no longer see her. Instead, a Taoist wearing white stood in front of her.

Both of Xie Lian’s hands were tucked in his sleeves. He didn’t even turn around to look at the boy, and just watched Little Ying with a smile. Slightly bending down so he was at the same eye-level as her, Xie Lian asked, “Young lady, I wonder if I could invite you inside to drink a cup of tea with me?”

The youngster sitting on the ground just felt as though his nose and mouth were hurting terribly. Actually, his whole face was hurting so much, it felt as if it had been smacked with a steel whip. However, the Taoist in front of him very clearly didn’t have any weapons. In addition, he didn’t see when the Taoist had made his move, or how he had made his move. Thus, the youngster stumbled and managed to climb up to his feet before pointing his sword at the man, “This person used a demonic art!”

The moment the group of men behind the youngster heard the words ‘demonic art’, they all raised their swords against Xie Lian. However, they would never have expected Nan Feng, who was behind Xie Lian, to suddenly thrust out his palm. Following another ‘ka-cha’ sound, the pillar beside them completely collapsed.

When they saw that display of divine power, the complexion of all the buff men simultaneously changed. That youngster also began mentally cowering in his heart, but he was still reluctant to admit his fault. Instead, he charged toward them as he loudly yelled, “Today I’ll admit defeat here. Which Taoist path are you from? Leave your name, and in the future we can meet again to settle this account……”

Nan Feng completely didn’t bother to reply, but the Fu Yao beside him piped up, “Not a problem, not a problem. This person is from the Ju……”

Nan Feng thrust another palm at Fu Yao, and once again the two of them started fighting. On the other hand, Xie Lian originally wanted to invite the girl inside the teahouse to sit for a bit, and then help her order some fruit tea and other snacks. However, Little Ying rubbed away her own tears before leaving. Thus, Xie Lian could only sigh and watch her leaving back before walking into the teahouse himself. When he came inside, the tea sommelier reminded him, “Remember to pay for the pillar.”

Thus, when Xie Lian sat down again, he faced Nan Feng and said, “Remember to pay for the pillar.”

Nan Feng: “……”

Xie Lian continued, “Before that, however, we should manage our proper work. Could someone lend me some spiritual power? I need to enter the spirit communication array to verify some information.”

Nan Feng raised his hand. The two of them clapped their hands together, establishing what was considered to be an extremely simple contract. With this, Xie Lian was finally able to enter the spirit communication array again.

The moment he entered the array, he heard Ling Wen speak, “Your Highness finally managed to borrow some spiritual power? Is everything at the North advancing smoothly? How are the two small martial gods who willingly offered a helping hand?”

Xie Lian raised his head. He took a look at the pillar that had crumbled because of Nan Feng, before taking another look at the indifferent Fu Yao who was closing his eyes and meditating. Then, Xie Lian replied, “Each of the two small martial gods have their own merits, and they’re both capable individuals.”

A hint of a smile could be heard when Ling Wen spoke again, “Then we truly have to congratulate General Nan Yang and General Xuan Zhen. According to His Highness’ words, these two small martial gods have boundless prospects. Ascending may even be an imminent event, ah!”

However, a quick moment after Ling Wen finished speaking, Mu Qing’s cold voice floated out. “He didn’t inform me of this adventure of his and left just like that. I was truly ignorant about this.”

Hearing that, Xie Lian thought to himself, “You’re really guarding the spirit communication array all day long……”

Ignoring Mu Qing, Ling Wen continued to speak, “Your Highness, where are you right now? General Pei is the deity who watches over the North, and his incense there burns quite prosperously. If Your Highness is in need, you could temporarily stay at one of his Ming Guang temples.”

Xie Lian replied, “There’s no need to trouble him. We didn’t find a Ming Guang temple in the vicinity and thus settled at a Nan Yang temple. But I do have a quick question, Ling Wen, concerning the ghost bridegroom. Do you have more information regarding this case?”

Ling Wen responded, “We do. Just a while ago, my Palace Hall gauged the rating of the ghost bridegroom. He should be of the ‘Wrath’ rank.”

‘Wrath’!

For the demons and ghosts that wreaked havoc on the mortal realm, the Ling Wen Palace Hall classified them into four ranks according to their abilities. These four ranks were the ‘Fierce’, the ‘Severe’, the ‘Wrath’, and ‘Devastation’.

Ghosts from the ‘Fierce’ rank had the capability to kill single targets. ‘Severe’ ranked monsters could wipe out a household, while ‘Wrath’ ranked ghosts could massacre a whole city. And the most terrifying of them all was the ‘Devastation’ rank. Whenever one was born, it could destroy a country and cause suffering to the people, turning the whole mortal realm into a mess.

The ghost bridegroom hiding on Mount Yu Jun was actually of the ‘Wrath’ rank, second only to the terrifying ‘Devastation’ rank. Since that was the case, anyone who managed to catch a glimpse of him shouldn’t have escaped unscathed.

Thus, when Xie Lian retreated from the spirit communication array and informed the other two martial gods of what he had learned, Nan Feng remarked, “If that’s true, then the information about the ugly creature or the man covered in bandages were just complete rumours. It’s either that, or the people who claimed to have seen those things instead saw something else, not the ghost bridegroom.”

Xie Lian mentioned his own theory, “There’s another possibility. Perhaps the ghost bridegroom wouldn’t, or couldn’t, hurt people under certain circumstances.”

On the other hand, Fu Yao didn’t add his ideas and instead criticized, “Ling Wen Palace Hall has really low efficiency! It took them this long to give us a ranking of the ghost bridegroom, what’s the use of telling us now?”

Xie Lian replied, “In the very least, we now know the strength of our enemy. However, since we’re dealing with a ‘Wrath’ rank, then the spiritual strength of this ghost bridegroom must be quite high. It would be impossible to deceive him with a fake person. If we want to trick him out, then we can’t use the diversion tactic where the people delivering the bride to the fake wedding are disguised puppets. In addition, they cannot be holding any weapons. However, the most important aspect is that the bride must be a living person.”

Fu Yao spoke up, “We can just go onto the streets to find a woman and get her to be our bait.”

However, Nan Feng immediately rejected his idea. “We can’t do that.”

Fu Yao asked, “Why? If she isn’t willing, we can give her some money and she’ll be willing.”

Hearing that, Xie Lian cut into their argument. “Fu Yao, even if there’s a woman who is willing to do that, it’s best if we don’t use that plan. This ghost bridegroom is of the ‘Wrath’ rank. If we mess up, we would be fine. However, if the bride gets taken away, a frail mortal girl wouldn’t be able to escape or resist. If that really happens, she’ll only have death waiting for her.”

Fu Yao stated, “If we can’t find a woman, then we can only find a man.”

Nan Feng questioned, “Where are we going to find a man who would be willing to disguise himself as a……”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when both his and Fu Yao’s line of sight started shifting over.

Xie Lian was still smiling gently, “???”

In the evening, at the Nan Yang temple.

Xie Lian popped out of the temple with completely dishevelled hair.

The moment the two small martial gods guarding the temple door saw him, Nan Feng immediately started yelling curses. With a “F*ck!”, he rushed out.

Xie Lian was speechless for a moment before asking, “What’s worth such a reaction?”

If you asked anyone to come and see, they would be able to tell with a glance that this was a young boy with a gentle and handsome looking face.

However, that was exactly the reason for Nan Feng’s reaction. For a proper and handsome boy to wear a woman’s wedding dress, that image was one where many people were unable to directly look at. An example would be Nan Feng. He probably just couldn’t accept it, and thus his response was that intense.

Xie Lian saw that Fu Yao was staring at him with a complicated gaze. As Fu Yao gave him a once-over, Xie Lian asked, “Do you have something to say?”

Fu Yao nodded before saying, “If I was the ghost bridegroom and someone wanted to gift this kind of woman to me……”

Xie Lian finished his sentence, “You’ll wipe out this town?”

Fu Yao coldly corrected him, “No, I’ll just kill this woman.”

Xie Lian smiled. “Then I can only say, it’s fortunate I’m not an actual girl.”

Fu Yao suggested, “I think you should try going into the spiritual communication array and see if there are any Heavenly Officials who are willing to teach you a spell that can help you transform your body. It would be more practical that way.”

There were indeed Heavenly Officials in Heaven who, because of their particular needs, were proficient in spells that transformed their bodies. However, Xie Lian was afraid that with the time left, it was already too late for him to learn a new spell. At the other end, Nan Feng returned to the temple with a green face. After he finished cursing, he had cooled down a considerable amount, a habit that was almost exactly the same as the General he served under.

Xie Lian took a look at the already late, night sky before saying, “Never mind. After you cover my head with a veil, it will all look the same.” When he was finished talking, he began to really cover himself with his veil.

However, Fu Yao raised his hand to stop him and said, “Wait a moment. You don’t know how that ghost bridegroom would harm people. If he takes off your veil and realizes he was tricked, something unexpected might occur when he rages. Wouldn’t that just create more problems?”

When Xie Lian heard his words, he thought they were quite reasonable. However, the moment he took a step forward, he heard a ripping noise.

The red wedding dress Fu Yao had found for him really did not fit Xie Lian.

The woman this dress was originally intended for had been quite petite. When Xie Lian wore it, although the waist area was unexpectedly quite fitting, raising his sleeves or lifting his feet were actions that felt extremely restrictive. In addition, the moment he made a bigger movement, the dress would get torn apart. Just as Xie Lian started looking around everywhere to try and find what had ripped, a voice floated over from the temple doors. “Excuse me, may I ask……”

The three of them turned around toward the sound. However, what they saw was a Little Ying holding some folded white clothes as she cowardly stared at them.

She explained, “I remembered that I encountered you here yesterday, so I decided to come and see if I could meet you again. I already washed these clothes. I’ll place them here. For both yesterday and today, thank you so much.”

Xie Lian was just about to give her a smile when he suddenly realized what he currently looked like. Thus, he decided to speak less so he wouldn’t scare people.

Who knew that not only Little Ying wasn’t scared of him, she even stepped forward and asked, “This is……if you like it, I can help you?”

“……” Xie Lian replied, “No, young lady, please don’t misunderstand. I don’t have this kind of hobby.”

Little Ying hurriedly explained once more, “I know, I know. What I meant was, if you don’t mind me, I can help you. You guys……you guys want to catch the ghost bridegroom, right?”

“……”

Both her tone and her head rose a bit as Little Ying continued, “I know how to alter clothes. I always carry some needle and thread on me as well. Whatever doesn’t fit, I can fix it. I also know how to do some make-up. Let me help you!”

“……”

After the time it took to burn two incense sticks, Xie Lian once again walked out of the temple while bowing his head.

This time, the bride’s veil was already covering his head. Nan Feng and Fu Yao seemed to want to take a peek, but in the end, they still decided that it was better to cherish their eyes. The sedan chair they found was at the front of the temple, and the carefully selected people who were supposed to carry the chair had long been waiting there. The moon was already high up in the night sky. Thus, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sat onto the grand, red sedan chair, clothed in a bride’s wedding dress.


	7. The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan Pt.1

The whole marriage sedan was covered in crimson satin. Lovely flowers, the moon, dragons and phoenixes were sewn on with brightly coloured thread. Nan Feng and Fu Yao each stood on one side of the sedan, guarding the sedan from tilting to one side. Xie Lian sat upright in the middle of the sedan, swaying with the walking rhythm of the ones carrying it.

In reality, the eight people carrying the sedan were all outstanding military officials who were proficient in martial arts. In order to find people highly skilled in martial arts who could disguise themselves as sedan carriers, Nan Feng and Fu Yao directly went to that official’s residence and revealed their plans. They clearly explained how they wanted to go and explore Mount Yu Jun. Thus, without asking any more, that official immediately pulled out a row of tall and strong martial artists. However, the reason why Nan Feng and Fu Yao wanted strong fighters was not because they were hoping they could help them. Instead, they merely wanted them to be able to defend themselves and flee when the fierce ghost began fighting back.

Contrarily, those eight military officials didn’t really think too highly of them. Within the government, they were all first class experts. When weren’t they the leaders or the stars of the show? Despite that, the moment these two little pretty boys came, they began stepping on their heads and forced them to become sedan carriers. It could be said that they were already extremely unhappy. However, their master’s orders had to be followed, and thus they could only restrain the disdain in their hearts. But since they were unhappy, it was hard to avoid their anger from flaring up. This was why, from time to time, they would deliberately slip up and shake the sedan, making it jolt terribly. Outsiders wouldn’t be able to tell that, as long as the person sitting in the sedan chair was somewhat delicate, they would have already vomited themselves to death.

The sedan chair tilted and jolted. Sure enough, they heard the Xie Lian inside sigh softly. A few of those military officials couldn’t help but secretly feel pleased.

Outside, Fu Yao asked in a cool tone, “Young lady, what’s wrong? Marrying at such an elderly age, you’re happy to the point of tears?”

Indeed, when brides married, many of them couldn’t help but wipe their tears and cry in their marriage sedan. As for himself, when Xie Lian heard that, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. However, when he began talking, his tone was gentle and smooth. Unexpectedly, there wasn’t even a trace of discomfort as he said, “It’s not that. I merely realized that this wedding procession is lacking a very important thing.”

Nan Feng asked, “What are we missing? We should have already prepared all the things we ought to have.”

Xie Lian responded with a smile. “Maids who are accompanying the marriage.”

“……”

The two small martial gods standing outside spontaneously glanced at each other. One couldn’t tell what kind of scene they had imagined, but they both trembled violently. Fu Yao spoke up and said, “Just pretend your family is impoverished so there isn’t enough money to buy servant girls. Thus, you decided to make do.”

Xie Lian replied, “Alright.”

The military officials heard their impromptu, slapstick live comedy and couldn’t help but smile. The dissatisfaction in their hearts had dissipated a lot, and they felt a bit more closer to the other three. This resulted in the sedan chair becoming much more stable.

Xie Lian leaned back once more. Although he was still sitting upright, he closed his eyes to rest.

Who knew, after a short while, a child’s laughter sounded near his ears.

Cackling and cruel, laughing and mirthful.

The sound of laughter was like a ripple as it spread through the mountains and fields. It sounded quite ethereal, but also very strange. However, the sedan chair hadn’t stopped and was still advancing as steadily as before. Even Nan Feng and Fu Yao didn’t say anything, as if they hadn’t noticed any abnormalities.

Xie Lian opened his eyes before speaking in a low tone, “Nan Feng, Fu Yao.”

Nan Feng was walking on the left side of the sedan. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Lian replied, “Something came.”

At this time, their ‘marriage procession’ had already entered the depths of Mount Yu Jun.

It was completely silent. Even the creaking noises made by the wooden sedan chair, the crunching noises of the dry leaves and branches under their feet, and the breathing sounds of the sedan carriers appeared too noisy in this quiet.

And the child’s laughter still hadn’t disappeared. Sometimes it sounded far away, as if they were in the depths of the mountain. Other times, it sounded very close, as if they were crawling beside the sedan.

Nan Feng’s expression became more solemn as he said, “I don’t hear anything.”

Fu Yao also coldly spoke up, “Neither do I.”

As for the other sedan carriers, it was even more unlikely for them to have heard anything.

In response, Xie Lian said, “If that’s the case, then they are deliberately only letting me hear.”

The eight military officials were originally overconfident because of their high skills in martial arts. In addition, they believed that because the ghost bridegroom randomly picked brides, they were bound to return home that night without any achievements. Thus, they hadn’t been fearful at all. Now, for some reason, they couldn’t help but think of those forty military officials in that wedding procession, the ones that had mysteriously disappeared. Suddenly, cold sweat began appearing on some of those sedan carrier’s foreheads.

Xie Lian noticed someone’s footsteps stagnating and said, “Don’t stop. Pretend nothing happened.”

Nan Feng waved his hand, motioning for those military officials to keep walking. Xie Lian spoke up again and said, “He’s singing.”

Fu Yao asked, “What is he singing?”

After carefully listening to that child’s voice, Xie Lian began repeating the words phrase by phrase. “New bride, new bride, new bride on the red marriage sedan……”

In the middle of this silent night, Xie Lian’s slightly sluggish voice came out very crisp. Clearly, he had been just saying those words. However, those eight military officials felt as if they could hear a child’s voice singing that odd song with him. It really made one’s blood run cold.

Xie Lian continued to speak, “Eyes brimming with tears, passing the mountain’s mound, under the veil do not……hold the rising smile……ghost bride……do they mean ghost bridegroom? Or something else?”

He paused for a bit before saying, “This won’t work. He keeps laughing now, so the words are unclear.”

Nan Feng frowned. “What does all of that mean?”

Xie Lian replied, “The literal meaning. He’s telling the new bride in the sedan chair that she should only cry, and that she shouldn’t smile.”

Nan Feng corrected his previous question. “I meant, what is the meaning behind this thing running over here to remind you of that?”

On the other hand, Fu Yao would eternally have an opposing idea. “It might not necessarily be just reminding us. It could be possible that it’s deliberately trying to make you do the wrong thing. Perhaps, smiling is the real way to come out unscathed. However, its goal is to trick others to cry. It’s hard to say if, in the past, the other brides fell for their plans.”

In response to that, Xie Lian said, “Fu Yao ah. If an ordinary bride heard this kind of voice in the middle of the road, I’m afraid she’ll only be scared to death. How could she smile? In addition, whether I cry or smile, what would the worst result be?”

Fu Yao responded, “You’ll get kidnapped.”

Thus, Xie Lian reminded him, “Isn’t the purpose of our trip tonight exactly that?”

Fu Yao snorted, though he didn’t continue to argue. Contrarily, Xie Lian spoke up again and said, “Also, there’s something I think I should tell you guys.”

Nan Feng asked, “What is it?”

Xie Lian responded, “Ever since I sat onto the sedan, I’ve never stopped smiling.”

“……”

He had just said this when suddenly, the marriage sedan sank heavily!

The eight military officials began to immediately riot, causing the marriage sedan to completely halt. Nan Feng shouted, “Everyone, don’t panic!”

Xie Lian raised his hand slightly before asking, “What happened?”

Fu Yao replied in a light tone. “Nothing. Nothing more than meeting some beasts.”

He had just finished answering, when Xie Lian heard a mournful wolf howl cut through the night’s silence.

A pack of wolves was blocking their path!

No matter what, Xie Lian thought this wasn’t very normal. Thus, he asked, “May I ask, do wolf packs frequently roam Mount Yu Jun?”

One of the military officials holding the carriage replied, “I’ve never heard of this happening before! How could they be on Mount Yu Jun?!”

Xie Lian raised his eyebrow before saying, “Yeah, then we’ve come to the right place.”

It was nothing more than a pack of wolves on a mountain. They weren’t something difficult for Nan Feng and Fu Yao to deal with, and they weren’t something scary for those military officials who regularly rolled around and fought against others. But just then, they had been pondering over the ghost bridegroom’s eerie song. That had been the only reason they were so caught off-guard and afraid.

From the darkness of the forest, many pairs of faintly green wolf eyes lit up as the wolves themselves began slowly walking out. Quickly, they began surrounding them.

However, when one compared a pack of beasts that happily found a meal to that thing they couldn’t hear nor touch, the weird thing was of course scarier. Thus, one by one, everybody began rolling their sleeves up for battle, preparing to show their talents and go on a killing spree.

Unfortunately, the best part of the show had yet to come. Tightly following their steps, a rustling noise appeared, followed by a strange voice that didn’t sound human nor like a beast.

A military official exclaimed in alarm. “This……what is this?! What is this thing?!”

Nan Feng also began cursing. Xie Lian knew that something had quickly changed and thus wanted to stand up. He asked, “What happened now?”

However, Nan Feng immediately yelled, “Don’t come out!”

Xie Lian raised his hand, when suddenly, the sedan chair began to shake. It seemed as if there was something leaning against the sedan door. Xie Lian hadn’t been lowering his head that much. He directed his gaze downward, before seeing the back of a head of some kind of thing from the crack between his veil.

It actually climbed into the marriage sedan!

That thing had stuck its head into the marriage sedan, but was immediately dragged out by someone outside. Nan Feng stood in front of the sedan and cursed, “F*ck, it’s a base slave!”

As soon as he heard it was a base slave, Xie Lian knew that things would now become troublesome.

According to Ling Wen Palace Hall’s judgement, a base slave was something that couldn’t even obtain the ‘Fierce’ rank.

It was said that originally, base slaves were human. However, if one looked at them now, even if they were people, one could only say they were deformed humans. It had a head and a face, but they looked vague and unclear. They had legs and arms, but they were too weak to walk on. They had a mouth and teeth, but it would take them forever to bite someone to death. However, if they let people choose, most people would rather meet the scarier ‘Fierce’ or ‘Severe’ ranked monsters than meet a base slave.

This was because, in most cases, base slaves appeared and coordinated with other ghosts and monsters. When their prey was fighting against their enemies, they would suddenly appear. Then, they would use their endlessly tangled arms and legs to stick to their prey. They also had countless companions that advanced dauntlessly, all winding around their prey like sticky candy.

Even though their combat strength was extremely low, they were very tenacious and hard to kill. Furthermore, they usually emerged in a large group. It was pretty hard to shake them off, and it was even more difficult to quickly kill them all. Gradually, one would waste too much strength fighting them, or they wo end up stumbling. As a result, there would inevitably be a short moment of carelessness, one that would let the enemy who had been waiting for an opportunity to succeed.

After the prey was killed by the other ghosts and monsters, the base slaves would collect the remains of the prey, those broken arms and legs, before eating them with relish. They would gnaw and nibble until they were full of holes.

Base slaves were truly a very disgusting existence. To a Heavenly Official from Upper Heaven, letting out divine light and pulling out their weapons were naturally enough to scare base slaves into retreating. However, to the small martial gods of Middle Heaven, these things were truly hard to deal with.

From what seemed to be a distant place, Fu Yao said in a tone full of revulsion, “I! Hate! These things the most! Did Ling Wen Palace Hall mention these things?”

Xie Lian responded, “They didn’t.”

Fu Yao immediately retorted, “What use do those guys have?!”

Ignoring him, Xie Lian asked, “How many of them came?”

This time it was Nan Feng who replied. “Around a hundred, probably a bit more! Don’t come out!”

For things like base slaves, the more there were, the stronger they became. When there were more than ten of them, it would already be extremely hard to deal with. More than a hundred of them? There would be more than enough base slaves to drag them to death. Base slaves usually liked living in places where there were a lot of people. Thus, Xie Lian would never have expected that there would be this many living on the deserted Mount Yu Jun. Xie Lian thought for a moment before slightly raising his arm, revealing a wrist that was half-bandaged.

He said, “Go ahead.”

The moment he said those words, those white bandages began automatically sliding off his arm. Like it was alive, it flew outside by passing the curtains of the sedan.

Xie Lian sat upright in the sedan before gently ordering, “Strangle them to death.”

In the midst of the night, a white viper suddenly swam out.

When that white, thin silk was bandaged around Xie Lian’s wrist, it seemed to only be a few chi in length. However, when it flew as quick as lightning into the fight, it seemed as if it was infinitely long. With a ‘crack crack’, ‘crack crack’, a succession of snapping sounds echoed in the air. In the blink of an eye, dozens of wild wolves and base slaves had their necks broken by the white silk!

The six base slaves bothering Nan Feng instantly met a violent death and fell to the ground. He thrust out his palm and sent the last wolf flying. However, though Nan Feng had escaped the danger, he didn’t relax even the slightest bit. Instead, he rushed toward the sedan and yelled in disbelief, “What is that thing?! Aren’t you without any spiritual power, and thus can’t activate magical artefacts?!”

Xie Lian responded, “There would inevitably be exceptions to everything……”

Nan Feng was furious. He slapped one side of the sedan carriage and roared, “Xie Lian! Say it clearly, what is that thing?! Is it……”

That slap of his almost made the whole sedan fall apart. Thus, Xie Lian had no other choice but to raise his hand and support the door. But for once, he was slightly startled. When Nan Feng said those words, his tone unexpectedly made him recall Feng Xin’s appearance when he got mad in the past.

Nan Feng was still waiting for an answer when suddenly, the distant screams of the military officials echoed through the air. Fu Yao coldly said, “If you want to talk, beat back this wave of enemies before doing it!”

Nan Feng had no other choice but to go back and save the show. However, Xie Lian quickly snapped out of his daze and said, “Nan Feng, Fu Yao, you guys leave first.”

Nan Feng looked back, “What?”

Xie Lian explained, “If you guys stay around the sedan chair, more things will come. You won’t be able to finish fighting. In that case, take the other people and leave. I’ll stay behind and meet that ghost bridegroom.”

Nan Feng wanted to start cursing again. “Just you……”

However, on the other side, Fu Yao coldly spoke up. “Since he can use that silk cloth, for a short while nothing will happen. If you have time to argue with him, wouldn’t it be better spent settling that group before returning to help? I’m leaving.”

Fu Yao was rather confident and at ease. He was also straightforward as well; when he said he was leaving, he immediately left, not even slowing down for a moment. Nan Feng clenched his teeth, knowing in his heart that the other small martial god wasn’t wrong. Thus, he turned to face the remained military officials and said, “Follow me!”

Sure enough, when they were farther away from the sedan, though the previous base slaves and wolves were still there, no more new ones joined the fight. The two small martial gods protected four military officials. As they fought, Fu Yao began speaking with a tone of hatred, “Ridiculous. If it were not for me……”

He stopped talking. The two of them glanced at each other, their gazes both completely strange. Fu Yao swallowed the rest of his words before turning his head. For the time being, the two of them put away this topic and didn’t mention it again. Instead, they only continued hurrying.

All around the marriage sedan, corpses covered the ground.

The silk Ruoye1 had already strangled all the leftover base slaves and wolves that had tried pouncing onto the sedan. It flew back and began automatically and gently wrapping itself on Xie Lian’s wrist once more. Xie Lian calmly and quietly sat in the marriage sedan, surrounded by the complete darkness and the rustling sounds of the trees.

Suddenly, everything became completely silent.

The sound of the wind, the sound of the rustling trees, the shouts of the monsters. In a split second, all of that became deathly silent, as if they were afraid of something.

After that, he heard two light laughs.

It sounded like a young man’s voice, but it also sounded like the voice of a teenager.

Xie Lian sat there and didn’t speak.

The silk Ruoye wrapped around his wrist, ready to act. As long as the person who came had even the smallest trace of killing intent, it would immediately and frantically strike back with ten times the power.

Unpredictably, Xie Lian didn’t meet an abrupt attack or a blast of killing intent, but something completely different.

The curtain of the marriage sedan was slightly lifted. Looking through the crack of the red veil, Xie Lian saw the person extend a hand toward him.

The fingers and joints of that hand were well-defined. Red thread was tied around the third finger. On that slender and pale-white hand, it looked as if it was a colourful and bright knot of fate.

1\. [若邪] pronounced as Ruoxie, but the author has made a note that we should refer to it as Ruoye. This is the name of the silk. It means, ruo = as if, like, xie = demonic, evil. ↩


	8. The Ghost Holds a Wedding, The Crown Prince Climbs Onto the Marriage Sedan Pt.2

Should he reach over or not?

Xie Lian remained calm and collected. After all, he hadn’t finished thinking things through yet. Should he continue acting mighty and unmovable despite encountering hardships? Or should he pretend to be a new bride who was currently scared out of her wits, one who would cowardly move backwards in an attempt to hide?

The owner of that hand was quite patient and elegant. Xie Lian didn’t move, so that hand didn’t move either, as if the hand’s owner was waiting for his reply.

After quite a while, as if he had been possessed by a demon, Xie Lian actually reached out his hand.

He stood up and was about to push aside the curtain blocking the door so he could step off the sedan. However, the person outside was already a step ahead of him and had already raised the red curtain. The person who came held Xie Lian’s hand, though he didn’t grasp it too tightly, as if he were afraid he would accidentally hurt him. This resulted in creating the illusion that the person was quite cautious and careful.

Xie Lian’s head was lowered. He allowed the other person to lead him before slowly leaving the sedan. When he looked down, he glimpsed a pile of wolf and base slave corpses by his feet. They looked as if they had been strangled to death by the silk cloth Ruoye. Xie Lian’s thoughts took a slight turn before he stumbled slightly. With a startled gasp, he began to fall forward.

The person who came immediately placed his hand onto Xie Lian’s back to support him. Thus, he managed to catch him before he fell.

Since he supported him, Xie Lian took the opportunity to easily grab his wrist. However, he only felt something cold and hard. It turned out that the person who had came wore a pair of silver vambraces.

These vambraces were gorgeous and exquisite. There were ancient patterns decorating them. Maple leaves, butterflies, and sinister, ferocious beasts were also engraved on them. They looked quite mysterious, unlike something from the Central Plains. Rather, it looked as if they were an antique from a minor exotic tribe. They perfectly enclosed this person’s wrists, making him appear refined and agile.

Ice cold silver, deathly pale hands. They seemed lifeless, however, they also seemed to contain a murderous spirit and evil intentions.

Xie Lian had faked that fall of his, intending to feel the other person out. Even now, Ruoye was still hidden in his wide sleeves as it slowly twisted around his wrists, waiting for the moment to pounce. However, the person who came only held his hand once more before leading him forward.

On one hand, Xie Lian’s head was still covered with that veil, so he couldn’t see clearly. On the other hand, he wanted to stall for time. This was why Xie Lian deliberately walked very slowly. However, unexpectedly, the other person actually cooperated with his pace and walked extremely slowly as well. Every now and then, this person’s other hand would support him and pull him along, as if he was afraid Xie Lian would fall again.

Although Xie Lian was extremely vigilant and on guard, when he saw how the other person treated him, he couldn’t help but think, “If this person really was a bridegroom, he was truly being gentle and considerate to the extreme.”

At this time, Xie Lian suddenly heard an extremely clear, tinkling noise. Every time the two of them took a step, that clear noise would ring once. Just when he was pondering over what this noise was, the suppressed roars of wild beasts abruptly appeared from all directions.

Wild wolves!

Xie Lian’s figure moved slightly as the Ruoye on his wrist suddenly tightened.

Who knew that, before he could do anything, the person holding his hand lightly patted his hand twice as if he was comforting him and telling him to not worry. These two pats were light enough to be considered as an extremely gentle move. Xie Lian was slightly startled before he realized that those low roars were already disappearing. When he tried to carefully listen again, Xie Lian suddenly discovered that these wolves weren’t roaring or snarling. Instead, they were whimpering.

These noises were clearly the sounds a wild beast made when they were frightened to the extreme. They were the whimpering the beasts made when they were unable to take a single step, the sobs during their final struggle before death.

Xie Lian’s curiosity concerning the person became even stronger. At this moment, he only wanted to take off his veil and take a look at him before doing anything else. However, he knew that this action was not something proper. Thus, Xie Lian could only peek through the small crack in the veil before trying to piece together an image, despite missing the big picture.

With this glimpse, Xie Lian saw the hem of a red robe. And under that red robe was a pair of black leather boots. They were currently walking at a leisurely pace.

This person’s pace was a bit careless, mixed with a light and brisk bounce in his steps. It made him appear like a lively teenager. However, he walked as if he had a goal or destination firmly in mind, making it so that it seemed like no one could stop him. Whoever dared to block his path would only be crushed into dust. This rather made Xie Lian unable to precisely determine what kind of person this guy was.

While he was still turning over guesses in his mind, a white and ghastly thing suddenly appeared in his view.

That was a skull.

Xie Lian’s pace stagnated for a moment.

With only a single glance, Xie Lian was able to tell that there was something wrong with the position of this skull. This was clearly the corner of some sort of spiritual array. If one touched it, Xie Lian was afraid that the whole array would launch an attack at that point. However, with the teenager’s current pace, it seemed like he hadn’t noticed something was there. Xie Lian was just pondering over whether he should give the teenager a warning when he heard a ‘ka-cha’ noise. With this tragic crunching noise, Xie Lian blankly watched that person’s foot step onto the skull and shatter it into dust.

Then, as if he hadn’t felt or noticed anything, this person indifferently stepped on the skull dust and kept on walking.

Xie Lian: “……”

This guy actually……just with a single step……crushed this entire array……into useless dust……

At this moment, the teenager’s pace suddenly paused. Xie Lian’s heart moved, thinking it was because the other boy was about to do something. However, that teenager only stopped for a second before he continued to lead him forward. After two steps, some soft thudding noises echoed from above their heads, like the sound of rain hitting an umbrella. It turned out that a moment ago, the teenager had opened an umbrella before holding it above both of their heads.

Although it wasn’t the time to think this, Xie Lian couldn’t help but praise the teenager for being so thoughtful. However, he felt this was rather odd. Was it raining?

Within the quiet and dark mountains, within the forest filled with thick weeds—in the distant depths of the mountain range, a group of wild wolves faced the moon and howled. Xie Lian didn’t know if it was because a slaughtering fest had just occurred, but within the cold air, the light scent of blood slowly emerged.

This situation and this scenery were both demonically alluring. However, this teenager held his hand with one hand and held up an umbrella with the other as he slowly led him forward. For no reason at all, this made their stroll seem romantic and flirtatious, like they were sincerely in love and inseparable.

That bizarre bout of rain came in a strange manner and left in a strange manner as well. It didn’t take a long while before the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella disappeared. And that teenager also came to a halt. It seemed like he had put away his umbrella. Simultaneously, he finally let go off Xie Lian’s hand before walking a step closer to him.

The hand that had held his and led him all the way here lightly touched his veil before slowly lifting it up.

Xie Lian had been waiting for this moment for their whole walk here. He didn’t move at all as he watched the lingering red curtain in front of his eyes slowly disappear——

The silk cloth Ruoye moved!

It wasn’t because this teenager had revealed any killing intent. Rather, Xie Lian intended to take the initiative and attack first. They could have a nice chat after the other person was unable to move.

Who would have thought that after the silk cloth Ruoye flew out, it brought along a burst of harsh wind. The scarlet veil left the teenager’s hand, flying up before falling once more. Xie Lian only had the time to see the after-image of a teenager dressed in red before Ruoye rushed over.

Unexpected, that teenager suddenly shattered into a thousand silver butterflies. They scattered into a burst of silvery light, looking like a glistening and dazzling stellar wind.

Although this really wasn’t the time or place, Xie Lian couldn’t help but marvel at this scene after he retreated two steps. This sight was really too gorgeous, as if it was a fantasy scene only seen in one’s dreams.

At this moment, a silver butterfly began leisurely flying in front of him. Xie Lian didn’t manage to carefully examine it before the butterfly flew around him twice. After that, it integrated itself back into the glistening wind, transforming into part of the silvery light filling the sky. With a flap of their wings, the butterflies flew upwards.

After quite a while, Xie Lian finally snapped himself out of his daze. In his heart, he mentally wondered, “In the end, was this teenager the ghost bridegroom or not?”

In his opinion, he kept feeling as though this teenager wasn’t. If he was the ghost bridegroom, then the wild wolves in Mount Yu Jun ought to have been his subordinates. But if that was the case, why would those wolves be that scared when they saw him? In addition, that spiritual array they saw on the road here should have been one that had been set up by the ghost bridegroom. However, that teenager had just casually…….crushed the array into rubbish.

On the other hand, if that teenager wasn’t the ghost bridegroom, why would he come to rob the sedan of its bride?

The more Xie Lian thought, the more strange he thought this situation was. Xie Lian threw the silk cloth Ruoye onto his shoulders as he mentally thought, “Let’s forget about it. There’s also the probability that he had been someone who had been coincidentally passing by. For now, let’s put him to the side. The reason for why I’m here is what’s more important.”

Xie Lian took a look around before letting out a surprised sound. It turned out that in the distance, there was actually a building. It looked quite heavy and grounded as it stood there.

Since the teenager brought him here, and since this building had been painstakingly hidden in this befuddling array, it became imperative for Xie Lian to go in and take a look.

Xie Lian took a few steps forward before he suddenly stopped. He thought for a moment before going back and picking up the wedding veil that was on the floor. Patting the dust off of it, he held it in his hand before walking toward the building again.

This building’s red walls looked quite tall, with bricks that looked conspicuously mottled. It actually looked similar to an old temple for the god of the city. In addition, based on Xie Lian’s experience, the structure of this building made it probable that it was a martial god’s temple. Sure enough, Xie Lian raised his head and saw three big words engraved in the metal on the top of the front door. The words said:

“Ming Guang Temple”!

The martial god of the North, General Ming Guang. He was precisely the god Ling Wen had mentioned last time in the spiritual communication array; the General Pei whose incense sticks burned prosperously in the North. No wonder they hadn’t found a Ming Guang Temple in the vicinity and found a Nan Yang Shrine instead. It turned out that the Ming Guang Temple in this area was within Mount Yu Jun. However, this temple had long been sealed off by a befuddling array. Could it be……perhaps there was some connection between the ghost bridegroom and General Ming Guang?

However, toward this General Ming Guang, one could say he was someone proud of his success and arrogant in his power. In addition, his position in the North was also very stable. Xie Lian personally didn’t believe that this kind of martial god would willing be involved with such a vicious thing like the ghost bridegroom. On the other hand, something like unluckily allowing a vicious thing occupy their place when they weren’t aware of anything wasn’t something strange. As for what the truth behind everything was, it was better to make one’s conclusions after looking things through more.

Xie Lian walked over. The temple door was closed but it hadn’t been locked. Thus, it opened after a single push. After he opened the door, a strange odour assaulted his senses.

It wasn’t the smell of dust found in a place that had been uninhabited for a long time. No, it was a faint, rotten stench.

Xie Lian walked in and closed the front door, making it seem as though no one had entered the temple in the first place. In the centre of the main hall, a Godly statue was located on the altar for offerings. Naturally, this Godly statue depicted that martial god from the North, General Ming Guang.

Many humanoid objects, for example, sculptures, puppets, and portraits, were all things that were easily infected by evil influences. Therefore, the very first thing Xie Lian did was walk forward and carefully examine this Godly statue.

After taking a long look, Xie Lian’s conclusion was: this Godly statue was modelled very superbly. It held a double-edged sword as it wore a belt made out of jade on its waist. In addition, it had a handsome face and looked imposing and impressive. There was no problem with this Godly statue. Moreover, that rotten odour wasn’t coming from this statue either. Thus, Xie Lian stopped caring about it and turned around. He decided to head toward the back of the main hall to take a look.

However, the moment Xie Lian turned around, he froze in his place as his pupils shrunk.

A group of women wearing crimson wedding dresses and covered with veils stood stiffly in front of him.

In addition, that faint, rotting odor was drifting over from the bodies of these women.

Xie Lian quickly calmed down before counting those women. One, two, three, four……he counted all the way to seventeen.

They were really the seventeen brides who had gone missing in the Mount Yu Jun region!

The red colour on some of those brides’ wedding dresses looked a bit faded, and the clothes themselves looked ragged and old. These brides ought to have been the ones who had gone missing first. On the other hand, some of the brides’ wedding dresses looked brand new. The style of the dresses was also currently popular as well. In addition, the smell of a rotting corpse that came from these brides was also quite light. These brides ought to have been the ones who had gone missing recently. Xie Lian thought for a moment before uncovering the veils of one of the brides.

The face revealed under the scarlet veil was extremely pale. The skin tone was so white, it actually looked a bit green. Lit by the dim moonlight, she looked terribly frightening. The scariest thing about her, however, was that although this woman’s muscles had twisted after death, on that twisted face, she still wore a rigid smile.

Xie Lian took off the veil of the girl beside her. Once again, this girl’s mouth was curved up in the same smile.

In fact, all of the dead people in this room wore wedding garments while smiling even in death.

Beside his ear, Xie Lian seemingly began hearing that child’s voice as they sang that strange song. “New bride, new bride, new bride on the red marriage sedan……Eyes brimming with tears, passing the mountain’s mound, under the veil do not hold a rising smile……”

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Suddenly, he heard a strange noise that seemed to originate from outside the temple.

It was truly a strange sound. It was so strange, it was hard to describe what it sounded like. In fact, it sounded kind of like two sticks drumming the floor while rolled up in thick fabric. It also sounded like there was something heavy attached to the moving thing, so they were dragging it across the floor with difficulty. This noise started off from far away but moved extremely quickly. In a flash, it sounded like it was outside the temple’s front door. With a long creeeak, the door of the temple was pushed open.

Regardless whether it was a person who came or some other kind of thing, it was most likely the ghost bridegroom. And right now, it had already returned home!

The was no exit at the end of the main hall, and there was also nowhere for him to hide. Xie Lian only thought for a moment before he saw the brides standing beside him. Immediately, he covered his head with his wedding veil again before standing within the group of brides, becoming silent and motionless.

If there were only three to six bodies here, then of course it would be easy for others to notice something wrong with a single glance. However, right now there were seventeen corpses here. Unless someone counted them one by one like Xie Lian did, it would be very hard for them to immediately realize that someone was hiding there.

He had just placed himself in the crowd of brides when he heard something clop their way into the room.

As Xie Lian stood there motionlessly, he began pondering over what this sound was. In the end, what was this? With the pauses between each noise, it kind of sounds like a person’s footsteps. However, what kind of thing would have this kind of footstep? This definitely wasn’t the teenager who had brought me here. That guy walked in a very unhurried and pleasant manner, and the jingling sound of bells accompanied his steps.

Suddenly, Xie Lian thought of something. His heart immediately tightened. This was bad! The height was wrong!

After all, all of these corpses were bodies of women. But he was a genuine man! He was naturally much taller than these corpses. Although nobody could tell there was an additional person in this crowd at first glance, it would be easy for them to notice that there was someone who looked particularly tall.

But after thinking things over a bit more, Xie Lian immediately calmed down. He was indeed quite tall. However, that young lady Little Ying only combed his hair into a simple hairstyle. She didn’t do much with it.

On the other hand, these brides were all dressed up. Their hair was combed up so high those strands were practically soaring to the sky. In addition, thanks to the phoenix crowns they wore, the top of their heads became a huge chunk taller. If they added everything together, some of these brides probably wouldn’t be shorter than him. Even if he was tall, it wouldn’t be too eye-catching.

Just as he was thinking that, Xie Lian once again heard the clopping noise from before. This time, it sounded like it was only two zhang

1 away.

After a moment, he heard the clopping noise again. It sounded like it was even closer to him now.

Xie Lian finally realized what this ghost bridegroom was doing.

It was lifting every bride’s veil as it checked the faces of the corpses one by one!

“Bang!”

If he didn’t make a move now, when would have been a better time? The silk cloth Ruoye flew out before slamming into the ghost bridegroom.

Then he heard a loud noise before a black fog began filling up the room. Xie Lian didn’t know whether this fog was poisonous or not. Since he didn’t have any spiritual energy protecting his body, he immediately stopped breathing as he covered his nose and mouth with his hand. At the same time, he urged the silk cloth Ruoye to dance and create wind, in an attempt to quickly disperse the fog.

Suddenly, he heard the clopping noises again. Xie Lian squinted before he saw a short and small shadow pass through the temple’s front door. With the temple’s door wide open, a lump of black fog began rolling out as it headed toward the forest.

Xie Lian made a prompt decision before he immediately chased after it. Unexpectedly, he hadn’t taken many steps outside when, within the forest, a blaze of fire soared into the sky. Distantly, a group of yells filled with killer intent drifted over. “Let’s go, ah!”

A youngster’s voice sounded especially resonant. “Catch the ugly creature and help our people get rid of an evil! Catch the ugly creature and help our people get rid of an evil! As for the reward, we can divide it evenly amongst us!”

This was precisely that young leader. Xie Lian began complaining in his heart. This group of people had said before that they were going to search the mountain. Unexpectedly, they actually came! Originally, it would have been fine since there was that befuddling array covering everything up. However, that array had already been destroyed by that teenager! These blind cats actually encountered a dead mouse; thus, they actually found the ghost bride groom!

Xie Lian took another look. The direction those people had been in……seemed to coincidentally be the direction the ghost bride groom had been escaping to!

Xie Lian grabbed the silk cloth Ruoye and rushed over there. He began shouting, “stand there and don’t move!”

Everyone there paused a bit from surprise. Xie Lian wanted to continue talking when the youngster began to fervently ask, “Young lady, you were captured by the ghost bride groom and forced onto Mount Yu Jun, right? What’s your name? We came here to save you, you can be at ease now!”

Xie Lian was startled for a moment by those ridiculous words. Then, he finally remembered he was wearing a girl’s wedding dress. There hadn’t been a mirror in the Nan Yang temple, so he didn’t know what his current appearance was. However, based on this reaction, that young lady Little Ying was pretty good at what she did. This was because, after these people were surprised, they started treating him as a real bride. Moreover, this youngster was probably hoping that he was the seventeenth bride, so it would be easier for him to take the reward.

No matter what, however, he couldn’t allow these villagers to run all over the place under these circumstances. But he also couldn’t guarantee that the ghost bridegroom wasn’t still running away. Luckily, at this moment, two black-clothed teenagers finally managed to rush over. Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately yelled. “Nan Feng, Fu Yao, quickly come and help me!”

Unexpectedly, after these two small martial gods looked over by following the sound, they both began staring blankly at him. Then, they simultaneously backed away two steps. Xie Lian had to call them a few more times before they finally reacted.

Seeing this, Xie Lian asked, “You guys came over from there, right? Did you guys encounter something on the way here?”

Nan Feng replied, “We didn’t!”

Hearing that, Xie Lian said, “That’s good. Fu Yao, quickly go down this path and do a search. Look around in all directions and make sure that the ghost bride groom hasn’t escaped.”

After Fu Yao heard this, he immediately turned around and left. Xie Lian continued speaking, “Nan Feng, guard this place and make sure not a single person can leave. If Fu Yao can’t find the ghost bride groom in the mountains, then the ghost bride groom must be hidden among this group of people!”

When they heard this, all of the burly men were stunned. That youngster already realized he wasn’t a woman, and thus was the first that jumped up. “Nobody can leave? Why should we listen to you?! Are there no laws in this land! Everyone, don’t listen to them……”

The youngster hadn’t even properly stood up when Nan Feng thrust out his palm. Suddenly, a tall tree with a thick trunk snapped in half and fell to the ground. Everyone there immediately remembered that this teenager would strike things before completing a full sentence. If they were chopped in half like the pillar he had broken before, then even paying them money would lose any meaning. Thus, everyone shut up.

That youngster spoke up again. “You say the ghost bridegroom is within this group, so he has to be in this group? Everyone here has a first name and a last name! If you don’t believe me, come over here and use the fire to light up our faces! Check us over one by one!”

Xie Lian said, “Nan Feng.”

Nan Feng took the youngster’s torch and began checking people one by one. Everyone’s brows were beaded with sweat. Some people looked tense, some people looked at a loss. Some looked excited, some looked extremely lively. Xie Lian couldn’t see the cause. Thus, he walked to the front of the group and said, “Everyone. Please excuse my previous offense. However, I wounded that ghost bride groom, and it escaped. But it definitely couldn’t have gone far. These two young friends of mine didn’t encounter him on the road when they came here, so I’m afraid it might have hidden itself in this group of people. I’ll have to trouble everyone to take a close look at one another. Clearly check everyone’s face, and make sure there isn’t anyone you don’t know here.”

When they heard that the ghost bridegroom was probably within their group, everyone immediately felt their blood run cold. They didn’t dare to be careless as they started staring at each other in dismay. Next, they began playing the ‘You look at me, I’ll look at you’ game. After they stared at each other for quite a while, suddenly, someone yelled in a strange tone. “How come you’re here?”

Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat as he rushed over and asked, “Who is it?”

The youngster snatched someone else’s torch before lighting up a corner. He yelled, “This ugly girl!”

The person he was pointing at was actually……Little Ying. Under the light, Little Ying’s face with her crooked nose and slanted eyes appeared a bit twisted. As if she couldn’t stand being exposed so prominently, she raised a hand to block her face from everyone’s view. Then, she began speaking, “I……I just couldn’t feel at ease, so I decided to come up and take a look……”

Seeing how she was convulsing with fear, Xie Lian took away the torch in that youngster’s hand before asking the crowd. “How was it?”

Everyone started shaking their heads. “There’s no one we don’t recognize.”

“We’ve seen everyone here before.”

Nan Feng asked, “Could it have attached itself to someone’s body?”

Xie Lian thought for a moment before replying. “That would be unlikely. That thing had been solid.”

Nan Feng reminded him. “However, that thing is already of the ‘Wrath’ rank. It’s hard to say whether or not it could change its form.”

While the two of them were hesitating over here, that youngster was the first to start shouting. “The ghost bridegroom isn’t one of us! You saw it clearly as well, right?! If you saw clearly, then let us go!”

Scattered voices began echoing his words. Xie Lian swept his gaze over them before saying, “Everyone, please stay in front of the Ming Guang temple, do not leave.”

Everyone wanted to complain, however, when they saw Nan Feng’s grave and stern expression, nobody dared to. At this moment, Fu Yao returned and reported, “It’s not in the vicinity.”

Hearing that, Xie Lian stared at the dense crowd in front of the Ming Guang temple. Then, he began to slowly declare, “In that case, the ghost bride groom must be within this crowd.”


	9. The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses

Fu Yao noticed that Little Ying was hiding within the crowd of people. Frowning, he asked, “Why is there a woman here?”

Although his tone wasn’t aggressive, it didn’t contain any goodwill either. Thus, when Little Ying heard it, she bowed her head. Xie Lian was the one who replied for her and said, “She was afraid that we’ll meet a mishap, so she came here to take a look.”

Fu Yao turned to ask the bystanders another question, “Did you guys come up here with her?”

At first, the people in the crowd hesitated a bit before they replied.

“I don’t remember anymore.”

“It’s hard to say.”

“That’s wrong. When we came up, she wasn’t with us, right?”

“In any case, I didn’t see her.”

“I didn’t see her either.”

Little Ying hastily spoke up, “It’s because I secretly followed you guys.”

The youngster immediately asked, “Why did you secretly follow us? Do you have a guilty conscience? Perhaps you’re the disguised ghost bridegroom?”

The moment he said this, the people standing around Little Ying abruptly fled, creating a vast and empty space. Little Ying began waving her hands in a flustered manner before she said, “No……No, I’m Little Ying! I’m really her!”

Then, she turned toward Xie Lian and said, “Young lord, we had just met each other! I helped you put on make-up, and helped you dress and groom yourself……”

Xie Lian: “……”

When they heard this, everyone began looking over to stare at him. There were even some people who started to whisper things. In bits and pieces, Xie Lian heard phrases like, ‘kink’, ‘different from ordinary people’, ‘I can’t believe it’.

Coughing twice, Xie Lian explained, “This……is just a requirement of the mission. A requirement of the mission. Nan Feng, Fu Yao, you guys……”

It was only after he turned his head did Xie Lian become aware that Nan Feng and Fu Yao were staring at him in a strange manner. In addition, they began slowly moving away from him in a restrained way.

Being stared at with gazes like that made Xie Lian feel goosebumps all over his body. He asked them, “……Do you guys have something you want to say?”

How could Xie Lian have known that a girl’s skill in make-up created legendary and mystifying results? Little Ying had only taught him how to fix his eyebrows by drawing them elegantly, how to powder his face with some white powder and how to dot his lips with deep, red rouge. However, if he didn’t speak, Xie Lian looked exactly like a gentle, soft and beautiful young lady.

Thus, when those two looked at him, it made their hearts shake tremendously. They found this scene hard to believe; it made them feel uneasy from head to toe as they began to doubt life itself. Xie Lian’s face still looked like his face, but both Fu Yao and Nan Feng felt as if they didn’t know who they were talking to when they faced his current appearance.

Fu Yao asked Nan Feng, “Do you have something you wish to say?”

Nan Feng immediately shook his head. “I don’t have anything I want to say.”

“……” Xie Lian replied, “Perhaps its better if you guys said something.”

At this time, the people in the crowd began speaking up.

“Eh? This is a Ming Guang Temple?”

“This mountain’s forest actually had a Ming Guang Temple? Odd, I’ve never seen it before.”

One after another, everyone began looking at the strange sight. However, Xie Lian suddenly said, “Yes, it’s a Ming Guang Temple.”

Nan Feng noticed that his tone was a bit odd. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Lian replied, “The North is clearly General Ming Guang’s territory. It isn’t as if the incense burning for him wasn’t flourishing, and it’s not like his spiritual power is weak. However, why is there only a Nan Yang Temple under Mount Yu Jun?”

It was rather easy to understand why that Official would send his prayers to the Martial God Heavenly Emperor. After all, he had been the number one Martial God for the last millennium, and his status far exceeded General Ming Guang’s. Naturally, the higher and more influential you went, the more insured and secured one would be.

However, General Ming Guang’s position was equal to General Nan Yang’s position, and there was hardly any difference between the two of them. If you really had to differentiate them, then General Ming Guang had nine thousand temples, a thousand more than General Nan Yang. Xie Lian really couldn’t understand why General Ming Guang would give up something close and instead seek something far away.

He continued speaking and said, “Normally, even if the Ming Guang Temple on Mount Yu Jun is taken over by the ghost bridegroom, resulting in other people being unable to find it, one could always just build another Ming Guang Temple somewhere else. However, for what reason would another Martial God’s temple be built here?”

Fu Yao immediately understood and said, “There has to be another reason.”

Xie Lian replied, “Yes, there has to be another reason that would make the people of the Mount Yu Jun region stop building Ming Guang Temples. You guys, please lend me some spiritual energy again. I’m afraid I have to go and ask……”

At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, “So many brides, ah!”

When he realized that the voice had come from within the temple, Xie Lian immediately turned around. He had told these people to properly stay on the open space outside the temple, but they actually turned a deaf ear to his instructions and ran inside!

Nan Feng yelled, “The situation is dangerous, don’t run about!”

However, that youngster said, “Everybody, don’t listen to them! They won’t dare to touch us! We’re all good people, would they really dare to kill us? Everyone, get up! Get up, get up!”

This youngster actually realized that the three of them wouldn’t seriously hold down their waists and give them a beating. Thus, he began to become absolutely unrestrained.

Seeing this, Nan Feng’s knuckles began to crack, and he seemed like he was trying to restrain himself. However, as a martial god under Nan Yang Palace Hall, he really couldn’t beat up an ordinary person just because he wanted to. If a supervising Heavenly Official found out about it and reported him, then the aftermath really wouldn’t be fun to deal with.

The youngster laughed mischievously before sneering. “Don’t think I can’t tell what you guys are trying to do. You just want to deceive us and make us stay put, so you guys could solve this case all by yourselves and then collect the reward!”

With those instigating words, at least half the people in the crowd actually became restless. Thus, they followed the youngster and began running into the temple. Fu Yao apathetically brushed his sleeves and said, “Let them do what they want. This group of wicked commoners.”

His tone sounded extremely loathing, like he no longer wanted to care about what happened to them.

Then, within the Ming Guang temple came another loud scream, “These are all dead people ah!”

The youngster was also greatly shocked as he asked, “All dead?!”

“All dead!”

“What evil rituals! Some of these brides died decades ago, so how could their skin have not rotten yet??”

However, it didn’t take long for the youngster to get over his surprise. “It’s fine if they’re dead. Let’s carry the corpses of the dead brides down the mountain. After all, how could the people from their families not buy them back?”

When he heard that, Xie Lian’s gaze gradually sank. And after the group of people thought it over, they began thinking that this was reasonable. Some people sighed, some people muttered under their breaths, and some people became more cheerful.

Xie Lian stood near the doorway of the temple and said, “It’s better if everybody comes out first. For many years, a breeze hadn’t passed through this temple and thus the death qi has settled in. If ordinary people breathe it in, it won’t be good for them.”

His words made a lot of sense, and everyone didn’t know whether or not they should listen to him. Then, Little Ying spoke up quietly, “Everyone, stop being like this. It’s this dangerous here, won’t it be better if we listen to this young lord? Come outside and sit down, ah.”

However, this crowd of people didn’t even listen to Xie Lian and his team, so how could they listen to her? Nobody paid any attention to her at all. But Little Ying wasn’t discouraged and repeated her words a few more times.

Ignoring her, the youngster began instructing the crowd, “Everyone, we must choose the freshest corpses. If the corpse is too old, who knows if their family members are still living on this world. This way, we won’t have to waste our strength carrying the corpses down the mountain.”

Unexpectedly, there were actually people who praised the youngster for being smart and efficient. When he heard that, Xie Lian didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh.

Then, Xie Lian saw someone start moving and immediately warned, “Don’t take off their veils! Those veils can block the death qi and yang qi. The yang qi in your bodies is too strong. If the corpses absorb it, I can’t guarantee that nothing would happen.”

However, because this group of people wanted to pick out the freshest corpses, they had already taken off almost all of the veils. Xie Lian exchanged a glance with Nan Feng, who had just walked over to the doorway, before shaking his head. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop this crowd of people. After all, it wasn’t like he could give them a beating until they vomited blood and couldn’t move any more.

If they did that and something happened later, wouldn’t their wounds prevent the crowd of people from trying to run away? Xie Lian truly felt quite helpless.

At this moment, a buff guy removed one of the bride’s veils and exclaimed, “The f*ck! This young lady is really beautiful enough to the point she could ascend to the heavens!”

Everyone began gathering around him as people started discussing her.

“She probably hadn’t even crossed her husband’s door yet, right? Dying like that is really too unfortunate.”

“Her clothes are a bit worn out, but this girl is truly the most beautiful!”

This bride had probably just died recently, because the skin on her face was still quite flexible. Someone provocatively asked, “Does anyone dare to touch her face?”

The youngster immediately replied, “Why wouldn’t we dare to?”

The moment he finished saying that, he pinched that corpse’s face twice. The youngster only felt that the skin beneath his hands felt smooth like tofu, making people’s hearts feel itchy. He even wanted to grope this girl a few more times.

Xie Lian truly couldn’t continue watching this scene anymore and was just about to go over there to stop the youngster. However, Little Ying had already rushed over and said, “Don’t be like this!”

The youngster easily gave her a push and said, “Don’t hinder us big men from doing things!”

However, Little Ying crawled up again and said, “Doing something like this, you guys are truly just courting wrath from the Heavens!”

This time, the youngster became angry. “F*ck! You ugly person! Not only you’re ugly, but you’re bothersome as well!”

While he cursed her out, the youngster started kicking at her as well. Xie Lian reached over to grab the back of Little Ying’s collar and lightly lifted her away from him. Who would have thought that after he had done that, he suddenly heard a ‘bam’ noise, before the youngster yelled, “Who hit me?!”

Xie Lian turned around to take a look. That youngster’s head was unexpectedly badly bruised, and it even had a big hole. A stone covered in blood fell onto the ground. Little Ying blankly stared at it for a moment before she hastily said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I……I was scared, and accidentally threw it……”

However, even if Little Ying rushed to admit her wrongs, nobody would believe her. This was because, the direction that rock had come from was completely incorrect. That stone had been thrown into the window that was behind the youngster.

Thus, the moment that youngster had yelped in pain, everyone had looked over in that direction. They had been just in time to see the shadow of a person’s figure flit past the window.

The youngster yelled in a strange manner. “It was him! It’s that ugly creature with the bandages wrapped around his face!”

Xie Lian stuffed Little Ying into Nan Feng’s hands before taking two steps over there. Then, gently supporting himself by placing his right hand onto the window frame, he flipped out of the room and began chasing the creature into the forest. A few braver people who wanted to get the reward also followed him and jumped out of the window.

However, when he reached the edge of the forest, Xie Lian suddenly smelled the reeking odour of blood. Being extremely vigilant, he sensed something was wrong and immediately halted his steps. “Don’t go in!”

Xie Lian had already spoken up to warn them, but those people thought to themselves that it was great he wasn’t chasing after it, because now they could. Their steps didn’t stop and they instead charged right into the forest. The rest of the crowd that had been originally in the temple began rushing out as well. When they saw Xie Lian standing at the edge of the forest, those that weren’t too brave began gathering around him to watch.

It didn’t take too long before they began hearing a few blood-curdling screams. A few black shadows began stumbling out of the forest. They were exactly the people who had taken the lead in charging into the woods. Staggering out, these black shadows swayed around until they reached a spot where the moonlight shined down and illuminated them. And the moment everyone saw their appearances clearly, they were immediately terror-stricken by the sight.

When these people walked into the forest, they were still living humans. So why was it that when they walked out, they became people drenched in blood?

From their faces to their clothes, these people were all covered with bloodstains. It looked as if blood was gushing out of their bodies. If a regular person had bled this much blood, then it was impossible for them to continue living.

However, step by step, these people were still walking over to them. Everyone became so scared, they began uniformly scrambling backwards until they were hiding behind Xie Lian.

Xie Lian raised his hand and said, “Be calm. The blood isn’t theirs.”

Sure enough, those people said, “That’s right, ah! The blood isn’t ours, it’s……it’s……”

Even though their faces were covered in blood, it still wasn’t able to conceal their completely frightened looks. Following their gazes, the rest of the crowd shifted their eyes over to the forest. It was quite dark, so it was hard to tell what exactly was going on within the woods. Xie Lian grabbed a torch and went a few steps forward as he held the torch up to illuminate the forest.

Within the woods, something dripped onto his torch, making a sizzling sound. Xie Lian glanced at his torch before shifting his gaze upwards. After contemplating for a moment, he lifted his hand and threw his torch.

Even though the torch only illuminated the sky for a short moment, everyone still clearly saw what was on top of the trees.

Very long black hair, a deathly pale face, a tattered military official robe, and an arm that kept swaying back and forth in the air……

More than forty corpses of men were swaying in the air, hung upside down at various heights on the trees. Xie Lian didn’t know how long the fresh blood had flowed for, but it still hadn’t dried.

Drip, drop. Drip, drop. This created the frightening scene of a forest filled with corpses as blood rained down from above.

The crowd of people outside were all strong and buff men. However, when would they have ever seen a gruesome sight like this? They were all frightened so badly, they completely blanked out as not a single voice could be heard. And when Nan Feng and Fu Yao walked over and saw this sight, both of their gazes became focused.

After a moment, Nan Feng said, “Green Ghost.”

Fu Yao replied, “Indeed, this is his favourite trick.”

Nan Feng told Xie Lian, “Don’t go over. If it’s really him, then this is going to become a bit troublesome.”

Xie Lian turned around to ask, “Who are you guys talking about?”

Nan Feng responded, “A ‘Near Devastation’.”

Confused, Xie Lian asked, “What’s a ‘Near Devastation’? Something approaching the Devastation rank?”

Fu Yao replied, “Not bad. ‘Near Devastation’ Green Ghost. He’s precisely a ‘Wrath’ that had been assessed by Ling Wen Palace Hall, and they claimed that his realm was actually awfully close to the ‘Devastation’ rank. He’s extremely fond of stringing corpses on trees and making a forest of corpses, this kind of game. It could be even said that its part of his famous reputation.”

When he heard Fu Yao’s explanation, Xie Lian thought in his heart, ‘This name was truly unnecessary. If it was a ‘Devastation’, then it was a ‘Devastation’. If it wasn’t, then it wasn’t. Just like how there were only the phrases, ‘ascended’ and ‘haven’t ascended yet’. There were no such things as ‘near ascending’ or ‘approaching ascending’. On the contrary, adding on a ‘near’ word made people feel awkward.

Suddenly, Xie Lian recalled how that teenager who had robbed his sedan had held his hand and led him here. Back then, there really had been a moment where the sound of rain hit the umbrella that the teenager had opened. Could it be that the reason the teenager opened an umbrella was because he had wanted to block him from being drenched by this rain of blood?

“Ah,” Xie Lian quietly let out a noise. The two small martial gods beside him immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Lian gave a brief explanation of how he had met a teenager on the sedan and how that teenager brought him here. When he finished, Fu Yao said sceptically, “When we came up here, I had sensed that befuddling array. It had been extremely treacherous. However, you say that guy had just destroyed it without any extra trouble?”

In his heart, Xie Lian thought, ‘It wasn’t ‘without any extra trouble’, that guy had just casually stepped onto it! He didn’t care about it at all.’

However, Xie Lian said, “That’s right. Thus, do you guys think that this ‘Near Devastation’ Green Ghost is him?”

Nan Feng thought for a moment before he replied, “I haven’t seen the Green Ghost before, so it’s hard for me to say. Did that teenager have any special characteristics?”

Xie Lian said, “Silver butterflies.”

Just now, when Nan Feng and Fu Yao saw the forest of corpses, their expressions could have been considered as completely calm. However, the moment he said that, Xie Lian clearly saw the expressions on their faces immediately change.

Fu Yao asked in an incredulous tone, “What did you say? Silver butterflies? What kind of silver butterflies?”

Xie Lian sensed that he had probably said something quite important. He replied, “They were silver, but they also looked as if they were made out of crystal. They were not alive, although they did look extremely beautiful.”

Then, he saw Nan Feng and Fu Yao exchange glances. Both of their complexions became extremely ugly, paling until they were deathly white.

After a while, Fu Yao spoke up in a deep voice, “Let’s leave. Let’s immediately leave.”

Xie Lian asked, “The ghost bridegroom case hasn’t been solved yet, how can we go?”

Fu Yao responded, “Solved?”

Fu Yao turned around and smiled grimly. “It seems like you’ve truly stayed in the mortal realm for too long. This ghost bridegroom is no more than a ‘Wrath’. And even if the Green Ghost was responsible for this forest of corpses, he is just a ‘Near Devastation’ and would only give us a headache.”

After pausing again, Fu Yao’s tone unexpectedly became quite stern. “However, do you know who the master of those silver butterflies is?”

Xie Lian honestly replied, “I don’t know.”

“……” Fu Yao stiffly said, “Even if you don’t know, currently we don’t have enough time to explain it to you. In short, it’s not someone you can go against. You should just hurry back to the Heavens and send off some rescue squad soldiers.”

Xie Lian replied, “Then, you return first.”

“You……”

Xie Lian explained, “The owner of those silver butterflies didn’t reveal any malice. And if he had been hiding his evil intentions and is truly as scary as you make him out to be, then I’m afraid it’ll be hard for us to escape him when we’re within the Mount Yu Jun range. At this time, it’s best if someone stays back and guards this place. That’s why, it’s better if you return first and see if you can help me by sending over a rescue squad.”

He could tell that Fu Yao didn’t want to stay here and deal with all of these troublesome things. Since he didn’t want to stay, Xie Lian definitely wouldn’t force him to reluctantly stay here.

Fu Yao was precisely a straightforward kind of person. Without another word, he brushed his sleeves and actually left.

Xie Lian turned toward Nan Feng. He was about to speak up and thoroughly question the small martial god about that teenager, however, the crowd of people was suddenly in an uproar. Someone exclaimed, “Caught it, we caught it!”

With this, Xie Lian didn’t have any time to ask Nan Feng more questions. He immediately asked, “What did you catch?”

Two bloody figures began walking out of the forest. One was a strong and buff man. He had been one of the people who had taken the lead in rushing into the forest. Surprisingly, he hadn’t been scared into retreating because of the forest of corpses’ rain of blood. He could truly be considered as someone daring and fearless.

The other figure was the young boy he had been dragging out with his hand in a death grip. This young teenager had bandages wrapped around his head and face in a messy manner.

Xie Lian still remembered what the tea sommelier from the Chance Encounter Little Store had said. “Rumours state that the ghost bridegroom is an ugly creature that lives on Mount Jun. Because he was born too ugly, no women would like him. This is why his heart gave birth to resentment, and why he would snatch other men’s brides to prevent the couple from experiencing a happy occasion.”

At that time, Xie Lian and his team had thought it was just a rumour. Unexpectedly, there really was a person like this.

But him existing was just him existing. Whether or not he was the ghost bridegroom was another matter entirely. Xie Lian was just about to carefully take a look at this bandaged young teenager when suddenly, Little Ying rushed over and exclaimed, “You guys are wrong! This isn’t the ghost bridegroom, he isn’t!”

The youngster retorted, “He got caught red-handed at the scene and you still say he isn’t? I……”

He suddenly stopped talking before he looked as if he had realized something. “Oh, I kept asking why you were so weird, always continuously going ‘it’s not’, ‘it’s not’. It turns out you were colluding with the ghost bridegroom!”

Little Ying was startled by his accusation and began repeatedly waving her hands. “No, no. I’m not involved, and he isn’t either. He really hasn’t done anything before. He’s just an ordinary……ordinary……”

The youngster aggressively asked, “An ordinary what? An ordinary ugly creature?”

He carelessly grabbed the top of that bandaged teenager’s head twice. “Then let us take a peek at what this ordinary ghost bridegroom looks like, to be so fond of robbing other men of their wives.”

His two movements caused some of the boy’s bandages to loosen. That induced the young teenager into hugging his head before screaming. His voice was brimming with fear, sounding extremely mournful, yet extremely pitiful as well. Xie Lian grabbed the youngster’s elbow and said, “Enough.”

Hearing the boy’s miserable screams, Little Ying’s tears immediately began rolling down her face. However, when she saw Xie Lian step in, she looked as if she saw her light of hope. Immediately, she clutched his sleeve and begged, “Young……Young lord, help me. Help him.”

Xie Lian glanced at her. Little Ying immediately let go of his sleeve in an embarrassed manner. She looked as if she was afraid he would dislike her because she had touched him, and thus wouldn’t help her anymore.

Xie Lian comforted her, “It’s alright.”

Then, he took another look at that bandaged teenager covered in blood. Suddenly, he noticed that the boy was looking at him with a pair of bloodshot eyes. In fact, he had been peeking at him through the gap between the bandages hanging from his arms. The teenager had only stolen a single glance before he immediately bowed his head again to redo his bandages.

Although he hadn’t exposed his face, the little skin that had been revealed was already extremely frightening. It looked as if his skin had been burned by a fierce fire. It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of a horrific face he would have under his bandages. It made other people suck in a breath of cold air, and that reaction made the young teenager shrink in on himself even more.

Xie Lian noticed that unexpectedly, both Little Ying and this teenager cowered in the same manner, as if they didn’t see light all year round and as if they didn’t dare to meet people either. As Xie Lian sighed in his heart, the youngster beside him became on guard. “What do you want to do? The ghost bridegroom was caught by us!”

Xie Lian let him go and explained, “I’m afraid it wouldn’t be that simple for you guys to capture the ghost bridegroom. Just now, my friend had searched for him in the vicinity and didn’t find him. This boy probably only came afterwards. The real ghost bridegroom should still be hiding somewhere here.”

Little Ying summoned her courage and said, “You want the reward……but you can’t randomly grab people and claim they’re guilty!”

When the youngster heard that, he once again wanted to make a move. Ever since this case began, this guy kept causing trouble for Xie Lian. At the end of his patience, Xie Lian waved his hand. The silk Ruoye abruptly shot out and slapped the youngster, causing him to take a tumble. And it seemed that Nan Feng had also reached his limit for he swiftly gave the youngster another kick. Finally, the youngster hit the ground and didn’t get up again.

That youngster was a specialist in stirring up trouble. Once he stopped moving, the crowd didn’t know who they should follow. Thus, they became rather well-behaved. In fact, even after a few sparse shouts, they couldn’t create a disturbance.

In his heart, Xie Lian thought, “I can finally begin handling affairs.”

After sizing up the young teenager on the ground for a moment, Xie Lian asked, “Were you the person who threw that stone into the window?”

Although his voice sounded gentle, that teenager still shook like a bamboo sieve. He once again took a secret peek at Xie Lian before he nodded his head. Little Ying replied in his stead and said, “He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He only saw how the youngster looked as if he was going to hit me, so he wanted to help me……”

Xie Lian questioned that teenager again, “Those corpses hanging in the trees, do you know what’s going on there?”

Little Ying replied, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I definitely know the corpses weren’t hung up by him……”

That teenager kept trembling, but he still began continuously nodding his head. Nan Feng, who had been staring at him, suddenly asked, “Do you know who Green Ghost Qi Rong is?”

When he heard that name, Xie Lian became slightly startled. On the other hand, that teenager looked obviously at a loss. He hadn’t reacted at all toward that name, and he also didn’t dare reply to Nan Feng. Little Ying said, “He……He’s just scared, and doesn’t dare to speak……”

She kept trying to protect this strange teenager at all costs. Thus, Xie Lian asked in a warm tone, “Young lady Little Ying, what’s the matter with this child? Whatever you know, let me hear about it first.”

When she saw Xie Lian, it seemed as if Little Ying managed to summon a bit of courage. Even when the flame of the fire illuminated her face, she didn’t hide.

Instead, she wrung together her hands as she said, “He really hasn’t done any misdeeds. This child only lives on Mount Yu Jun. When he becomes too hungry, he’ll go down the mountain and steal some food to eat. Once, he happened to end up in my house……I saw that he didn’t really know how to speak and that furthermore, there were wounds on his face. So, I found some cloth bandages to wrap up his face and sometimes, I would send him some food to eat……”

Originally, Xie Lian thought that these two were perhaps a couple. However, now it seemed as if Little Ying’s protection for this teenager was more like an older sister’s protection to her younger brother, so much that she resembled a senior who took care of their juniors.

Little Ying continued to speak, “Afterwards, there were a lot of people who began believing that he was the ghost bridegroom. I couldn’t do anything about it, and could only hope that someone would quickly catch that genuine evildoer……I thought that since young lord and your companions are this powerful, even if you disguise yourself as a bride to catch that ghost bridegroom, in the very least you definitely won’t catch the wrong person. This is because he absolutely, absolutely wouldn’t go and rob your marriage sedan. However, who would have known that after I left, I heard that the youngster and his team intended to go up and search the mountain as well? I was truly too worried, so I secretly followed them up to take a look.”

She stepped in front of the teenager to protect him, as if she was afraid that someone was going to hit him again. Then, she began defending the teenager once again, “He truly isn’t the ghost bridegroom. Look at him, only a few people were able to beat him up into this state. How would he have been able to beat all those military officials who had accompanied the bride’s sedan……?”

Xie Lian exchanged glances with Nan Feng, both feeling an extreme headache.

If what Little Ying had said was the truth, then wasn’t this teenager completely unrelated to their current assignment?

The bandaged teenager, the ghost bridegroom ‘Wrath’, the ‘Near Devastation Green Ghost’. Oh, and they couldn’t forget that powerful master of those silver butterflies, someone who could even make the complexion of a Heavenly Official’s face change when they were brought up in a conversation.

A small Mount Yu Jun actually had this many guests who kept visiting it. It really made it impossible for people to deal with this. Who was who? Who had a relationship with who? Xie Lian felt his head swimming.

Xie Lian rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. For the time being, he didn’t ponder over how much of Little Ying’s words were genuine or false. Instead, he suddenly recalled the question he had always wanted to ask. “Young lady Little Ying, have you always been living around the Mount Yu Jun area?”

Little Ying replied, “That’s right. I’ve always been living here, so I can guarantee that he has never done any bad things.”

In response to that, Xie Lian said, “No, I wanted to ask you another question. In the Mount Yu Jun region, other than the temple here, has any other Ming Guang Temples been built?”

Little Ying stared blankly for a moment. “This……”

After thinking it over, she continued to speak, “Yes, they should have been built.”

When he heard her answer like this, Xie Lian suddenly had the faint feeling that he had stumbled upon something quite important.

He asked, “Then why is it that under the mountain, only Nan Yang Temples were built, and not Ming Guang Temples?”

Little Ying scratched her head before answering, “It has indeed been built before. However, I’ve heard that whenever they make the decisions to build a Ming Guang Temple, the temple would always catch on fire for no reason before it was completed. Someone then said that they were afraid General Ming Guang had a reason for being unable to safeguard this place. Thus, they chose to build a Nan Yang Temple instead……”

Nan Feng noticed that Xie Lian’s gaze had become focused. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Lian suddenly realized that everything was too simple.

The brides that couldn’t smile, the temple that caught fire for no reason, the Ming Guang Temple locked up by the befuddling array, General Pei’s impressive-looking Godly statue, and the ghost bridegroom who had disappeared after it was hit by the silk Ruoye——

It was too simple!

However, something had been continuously blocking his line of sight, making Xie Lian unaware of this simple fact from the very start!

He suddenly grabbed onto Nan Feng and exclaimed, “Lend me some spiritual energy!”

Being grabbed like this, Nan Feng stared blankly for a moment before he hastily slapped his palm again Xie Lian’s hand. He once again asked, “What’s going on?”

Xie Lian dragged him along as he began running. “I’ll explain later! For now, think of a way to subdue the corpses of those eighteen brides!”

Nan Feng asked, “Are you confused? There’s only seventeen brides, unless we add on you to make eighteen!”

Xie Lian replied, “No, no, no! Before, there had only been seventeen corpses, but now there’s eighteen! Within the corpses of those eighteen brides, there’s one that’s fake——the ghost bridegroom has mixed itself in!”


	10. The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses Pt.2

The two of them rushed back to the Ming Guang Temple. However, the main hall was now completely empty. The only thing that remained in the place of the brides from before was a hideous mess of red veils.

Upon seeing this, Xie Lian thought in his heart, “This is bad, so bad. They’re gonna die, totally die!”

He began rapidly picking up the veils on the ground. The moment he finished, he heard a wave of alarmed cries from outside the temple. Nan Feng and Xie Lian took a look outside the window, only to see a dozen or so women dressed in scarlet wedding clothes encircling the villagers. Right now, they were slowly approaching them.

Each of these women’s faces were deathly pale and were decorated with a smile. Their hands were stretched out in front of them, perpendicularly to their bodies

1\. These were precisely the corpses of those brides in the temple!

None of the villagers could remain calm as they helplessly watched the brides close in on them. Nobody had time to deal with that bandaged teenager anymore and immediately broke into a run. Little Ying promptly went over to support the teenager as Xie Lian helplessly said, “Don’t run!”

Who knew how many times he had already said that phrase tonight. Every time something happened, Xie Lian would have to say it at least thirty to forty times. However, there would always be people who turned a deaf ear to his warnings. He felt truly quite helpless.

Xie Lian waved his hand and the silk Ruoye began flying out toward the sky. After casually making a hand sign, the silk Ruoye began whirling around in the air by itself. It looked as if it was a heavenly woman randomly dancing about, a sight that was extremely eye-catching.

And when that group of brides saw that there was something lively spinning around in a cheerful manner, something whose tail would whip at them from time to time, many of those brides were lured over to the silk Ruoye.

However, there were seven more brides that were attracted to the heavy scent of blood within the depths of the forest. They were currently slowly hopping over there. Xie Lian immediately said, “Nan Feng, catch up to them. Don’t let them go down the mountain!”

There was no need to say anymore, because Nan Feng had already begun chasing after them. On the other hand, two brides began attacking Xie Lian. Their ten fingers were scarlet red and their fingernails were extremely sharp as they reached over.

In response, Xie Lian took out two veils he had just picked up from the ground before he suddenly threw them. The veils flew out as they spun in the air before neatly covering the heads of the two brides. Immediately, their actions became sluggish.

Sure enough, the moment they were covered with the veils, their noses and eyes were blocked by a thick layer of cloth. The brides became no longer able to see the shadows of people or smell the scent of the living. And because their bodies were stiff corpses, it was impossible for them to bend their arms and take off those veils by themselves. They could only stretch out their hands and randomly claw frantically in all directions, as if they were playing a game of hide and seek.

This scene was truly frightening yet comical at the same time. Xie Lian stood in front of the two brides and waved his hands in front of their covered faces in a probing manner. When he saw how they were completely unaware of his presence and instead began stretching their hands out in the opposite direction, Xie Lian began to think. After a moment, he finally couldn’t hold back and said, “Excuse me for this.”

Xie Lian grabbed a hand from each bride before placing them on each other’s necks. The two brides suddenly touched something and were very surprised. Since they couldn’t see anything, they began to fiercely destroy each other. Xie Lian quickly ran away before he raised another hand. The silk Ruoye followed him in a flash of faint rainbow light before it silently fell onto the ground, creating a huge, white loop. Xie Lian yelled at the villagers who were still running about in all directions, “Everyone, go into the ring!”

The group of people hesitated as they ran everywhere, but Little Ying quickly supported that bandaged teenager and stood inside the circle. After thinking for a moment, Little Ying ran out again and dragged inside the little youngster who had fainted and was currently lying on the ground.

At this moment, another bride had jumped over to the edge of the white loop. She stretched out her hands to claw at them, but it was like she was separated from the inside of the loop by an invisible wall. Little Ying realized that the brides couldn’t hop into the loop no matter what they did and hastily cried, “Everyone, quickly come in! They can’t enter the white loop!”

Upon seeing this, all the villagers promptly began rushing over like a swarm of bees. It was fortunate Xie Lian made the silk Ruoye become a few times longer than its original length so that the loop would be sufficiently large. Otherwise, he would have to worry over whether or not people would be squeezed out.

The brides couldn’t jump into the loop and knew they wouldn’t be able to touch anything inside. Simultaneously turning around, they smiled sharply at Xie Lian and began rushing over to him.

However, Xie Lian had long been waiting for them. Taking out a whole lot of veils from inside his sleeves, four or five pieces of red cloth began spinning around in his palms. His feet moved unceasingly and his hands didn’t rest. The moment a bride charged at him, he would accurately cover her with a veil. After a bride’s head was covered, she would begin groping around in a blind and sluggish manner. Those veils that spun around in the sky really dazzled people’s eyes. Xie Lian tossed and flung the red cloths in a skillful and easy manner, with those veils flying out in the air like red shadows.

The people in the white loop actually couldn’t stop themselves from loudly cheering and applauding at this scene.

“Great!”

“Amazing, amazing, truly too amazing!”

“This skill had been practiced before, right?!”

When Xie Lian heard this, he habitually blurted out, “Not bad, not bad. Those who have money, please tip me, those who don’t, please watch and support me with your enthusiasm……ah???”

Only after he said those words did he realize something was wrong. The words he used to say to his audience after a performance actually slipped out of his mouth. Thus, Xie Lian’s words quickly came to a halt.

While he had been speaking, a few more brides began hopping up. Every jump of theirs were at least seven chi

2 tall and carried them three zhang

3 far. In a flash, they arrived in front of Xie Lian with a puff of rotten stink.

Xie Lian bounced off his feet and also propelled himself into the sky. In the air, he quickly mouthed the password to the spirit communication array three times before saying, “Ling Wen, Ling Wen, the all-knowing! I have a question. Do you know if the martial god of the North, General Ming Guang, has a close female friend?”

Ling Wen’s voice echoed beside his ear. “Your Highness, what are you asking this for?”

Xie Lian replied, “Right now my situation is a bit critical. To tell the truth, there’s currently around ten or so dead people chasing after me.”

Ling Wen: “Ah? That terrible???”

Xie Lian: “It’s not that bad. In any case, does he have any? I know this question is fairly personal and hard to answer, so I didn’t ask within the spirit communication array. However, it’s required for my mission, and I definitely wouldn’t divulge the information.”

Ling Wen replied, “Your Highness, you’ve misunderstood. It isn’t that this question is hard to answer. No, it’s because Old Pei

4has too many female confidantes. When you asked me that question so suddenly, for a while I didn’t know which one you were asking about.”

When he heard that, Xie Lian nearly twisted his ankle. “Alright. Then, within General Pei’s close female friends, is there someone that is highly possessive, extremely prone to jealousy, and have a disability somewhere on her body?”

Ling Wen said, “When you say it like that, I actually thought of someone.”

Xie Lian once again sent out two red veils, attracting another wave of cheers. Turning around, he cupped his hands in a salute before he said, “Please explain!”

Ling Wen replied, “Before Old Pei ascended, he had been a general. On the battlefield, he met a female general from an enemy country. She was extremely beautiful and alluring, and her temperament was heroic and fierce. Her name was Xuan Ji.”

Xie Lian echoed, “Ah, Xuan Ji?”

Ling Wen continued speaking, “General Pei, this person……whenever he meets a beautiful woman, even if she is holding a knife to his throat, he would still seek her company. This woman led troops and crossed swords with him, but in the end, she was defeated.”

Xuan Ji became a captive and was sent to an enemy camp. Taking advantage of how her escorts were unprepared, she planned to commit suicide on the spot. However, her suicidal attempt hadn’t been successful. A general had chopped her long sword in half with a single strike of his own sword, saving her. And the elegant and graceful enemy General Pei, later ascended and became General Ming Guang.

This General Pei, on one hand, was someone who always had tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex. And secondly, the outcome of the war had already been determined. Even if the two countries continued to squabble back and forth, it was impossible for the enemy country to make a comeback. Thus, he released Xuan Ji. Well, over a period of time, a certain situation would gradually emerge. And what happened afterwards was extremely easy to imagine.

At this time, a bride grabbed Xie Lian’s right leg. Her five fingers tightened until they nearly dug into his skin. Xie Lian was just about to kick her when he suddenly realized that at this angle, he would have no other choice but to kick her face. In his heart, Xie Lian thought that it wasn’t good to hit a girl’s face. Thus, he changed his position and kicked her shoulder before throwing out another veil. Then he replied, “That sounds like a beautiful and admirable story.”

Ling Wen said, “It originally was a beautiful story. However, what went wrong was that Xuan Ji became adamant in becoming General Pei’s only lover for the rest of their lives.”

In two steps, Xie Lian leapt and climbed onto the roof. As he looked down upon the five or six brides that continued approaching him, he wiped away some sweat and said, “In the first place, it isn’t wrong for a woman to wish her lover would only love her for the rest of their lives.”

Ling Wen responded, “It indeed isn’t wrong. However, the two countries were in a state of war. On the battlefield, everybody was ruthless. Originally, Xuan Ji and General Pei came to an agreement of having a short-lived relationship. They were completely willing to only have the present with no following morning, where they would talk romance and not chat about war. Moreover, for Old Pei, if I speak frankly……if he doesn’t lead you on with another woman, it’s already not too bad.”

“……”

“However, that Xuan Ji was a noble woman from a general family. Her personality was extremely fierce. For the things she wanted, she wouldn’t let go even if she had to kill them.”

“Wait a moment, wait a moment!” Xie Lian quickly cut Ling Wen off. “Tell me first, is Xuan Ji disabled or not? Where is her disability?”

“It’s her……” When Ling Wen said those words, her voice suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

It was truly too annoying. Every time Xie Lian was about to hear the crucial points, the little spiritual energy he had borrowed got completely used up. Next time, it seemed that he had to ask his informant to say the main points first.

In the middle of a leap, Xie Lian quickly tidied up his thoughts once again. If the bandaged teenager was not the ghost bridegroom, and if every villager had already confirmed with each other that the ghost bridegroom hadn’t mixed into their group, then the only remaining place it could hide in was within the pile of brides!

When he had hid in the group of brides himself, the ghost bridegroom hadn’t managed to notice something wrong. In return, when the ghost bridegroom had mixed itself into the corpses, he didn’t manage to tell at first glance that there was an extra body.

If he carefully thought things over, after the silk Ruoye injured the ghost bridegroom, he only saw a cloud of black mist roll into the woods. There was no guarantee that someone had been hiding within that cloud of black mist. In fact, Xie Lian was afraid that when he had rushed out toward the forest, the ghost bridegroom stayed within the dark mist and brushed past him before returning to the temple. By hiding within the forest’s leaves, it sneaked itself into the group of corpses.

In that case, the ‘ghost bridegroom’ wasn’t a bridegroom and was instead just a ‘bride’——in fact, she was a woman wearing a bride’s wedding dress!

Since she was a woman, a lot of mysteries could be explained. For example, why the Mount Yu Jun region didn’t have any other Ming Guang Temples. It wasn’t because the people didn’t want to build one. No, it was because they couldn’t build one. Little Ying had said, “Whenever they made the decisions to build a Ming Guang Temple, the temple would always catch on fire for no reason before it was completed.”

That didn’t sound very coincidental, so the only explanation for it was that someone had deliberately set those temples on fire. And why would someone set fire to the unfinished temples? Under normal circumstances, it would be because of hate.

However, within Mount Yu Jun, there was a Ming Guang Temple blocked from the outside world by a befuddling array. No one could enter it, yet the workmanship of the Godly statue inside was very superb. In addition, the preservation of the statue was very good as well. Why was that so?

The ghost bridegroom wore a wedding dress herself, but she couldn’t bear to see smiling brides within the Mount Yu Jun region. Again, why was that the case?

After connecting all these clues, other than the desire to monopolize someone and extreme jealousy, Xie Lian couldn’t think of any other answers.

And for that weird noise that sounded like something heavy was being dragged across the floor with a wooden stick wrapped in thick cloth, if they were truly the sound of footsteps……Xie Lian could only think of one possibility!

He had already covered all the brides chasing after him with a veil. Thus, Xie Lian was finally able to fall back onto the ground as he lightly released a breath. Then, concentrating his attention, Xie Lian got up to count those brides.

One, two, three, four……ten.

Seven brides had hopped into the forest, with Nan Feng chasing after them. Ten brides had their heads covered by veils again because of him, and they were all here. In that case, there was still one more bride who still hadn’t appeared.

Right at that moment, from behind him, Xie Lian heard the familiar and strange thumping noises again.

Slowly turning around, Xie Lian saw a very short and small figure appear within his sight.

He lightly sucked in a breath and thought in his heart, “Sure enough, it’s like this.”

The short and small woman in front of him was dressed all in red. There wasn’t a happy atmosphere surrounding her, and instead she only looked mournful.

However, the reason she was short and small wasn’t because she had a petite figure. No, it was because she was kneeling on the ground.

Both her legs were broken, but her lower legs hadn’t been broken off. Instead, she had been walking this entire time using her knees.

In fact, the weird thumping noises Xie Lian had heard were precisely caused by this bride’s broken legs as she hopped around and moved.


	11. The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses Pt.3

The female ghost had an oval face with a pair of arched eyebrows. She really was extremely beautiful. Although her beauty may have alluded to hints of heroism before, now, it only bled unconcealed resentment, as if all her hatred had been concentrated into a confined space where no light could be shed. As she knelt on the ground, the part of her bridal dress below the knee looked threadbare and ragged. It was now obvious how the rumours had started.

The two of them stared in silence for a moment before Xie Lian finally spoke, “Xuan Ji?”

It seems it had been many years since someone had called her by this name. It took awhile for the resentment reflected in the female ghost’s face to faintly scatter; replaced by a light that flashed across her eyes

She spoke, “……He sent you to come find me, didn’t he?”

This ‘he’……Xie Lian guessed, certainly must be referring to that General Pei.

Xuan Ji then proceeded to ask, “What about him? Why didn’t he come see me himself?”

When she spoke, her face held such a fervent, hopeful and anticipatory expression that it made Xian Lian feel it be best not to reply with a “No, that isn’t the case”. Seeing Xie Lian’s silence, Xuan Ji suddenly collapsed and sat onto the floor.

She leaned against the statue of the handsome and tall Martial God, as her crimson bridal attire spread across the earth not unlike that of a massive bloodstained flower. With her hair in disarray, face contorted with pain, it was as though she was subjected to great torment. Xuan Ji asked, “……Why does he not come see me?”

This was yet another question Xie Lian could not answer, thus he could only remain solemn. Xuan Ji raised her head and gazed up at the God Statue, before she mournfully cried, “Pei Lang……oh Pei Lang. I betrayed my kingdom for you, I abandoned my everything and turned into this. Why won’t you come see me?”

With both hands, Xuan Ji yanked at her own hair and continued to question, “Pei Lang, is your heart made out of iron?”

Xie Lian silently observed her. Upon hearing these lines, he inwardly pondered: Xuan Ji said she betrayed her kingdom for General Pei……could it be that this General Pei took advantage of their intimacy to deceive secret military intelligence from her, which led to Xuan Ji’s kingdom’s defeat in war?

She also said that it was only because of General Pei that she became this way. By “became this way”, it could only be referring to her awful broken-legged miserable state. Xuan Ji was a female General, to be on the battlefield, it would not have been possible for her to be handicapped, which can only mean her legs were broken after the fact. Could this have something to do with General Pei as well? Could it be that when General Pei no longer found her useful and tossed her aside, this was the very reason that led to her resentment being so deep?

Although Xie Lian felt that having these thoughts were quite tasteless, yet with Xuan Ji’s resentment so deep to the point she would harm innocent lives……his thoughts may be vulgar, but he could only force himself to continue thinking this way for the time being.

Suddenly, a woman’s scream came from outside the temple, “Help! Help!”

Xie Lian and Xuan Ji glanced out the window at the same time. What they saw was that within the white circle Ruoye had fallen into, a person was dragging that bandaged teenager outwards. Little Ying was firmly clinging onto that person’s leg without letting go, causing that person to start raining curses.

It was in fact that youngster from before. “Scram! You moronic trash, what if your shouts attract that female ghost over?”

Little Ying continued loudly, “If I shout her over then so be it! You’re much worse than that ghost! I……I’d rather face that female ghost than you!”

As it turned out, the youngster that Xie Lian had knocked unconscious with his silk had woken up. Seeing how his surroundings were littered with fumbling deceased brides had frightened him at first, however, he quickly took notice that they were all unable to see. Emboldened and being all brawn and no brains, he had thought that while the others were too scared to move, he would drag the bandaged teenager down the mountain and claim the bounty for himself.

He cared not whether the bandaged boy was in fact the ghost bride groom. Since everyone below the mountain thought he was, then he is. Who knew Little Ying would throw herself over at him, shouting and screaming, startling all the brides roaming around as well as Xuan Ji from within Ming Guang temple.

When Xie Lian saw and realized it was the youngster again, he regretted not being more ruthless. He should have been more ruthless and knocked him out so he wouldn’t wake for another three days and three nights.

Xie Lian shouted, “Hurry up and return to the circle!”

When the youngster suddenly saw a black fog heading toward him, he frantically withdrew.

But, he was dragging a bandaged teenager and his leg was being clung onto by Little Ying. Thus, being a step too slow, he was instantly swallowed up by the black fog and brought back into Xuan Ji’s hands.

As he turned around to look, he thought: This messy long-haired, gloomy woman, wasn’t she one of the corpse brides lying among the group from before? The beautiful corpse that he had touched and groped?

As things stand, the youngster finally knew to be afraid and started screaming. Xuan Ji bent her five fingers, piercing through and instantly ripping out his skull from within his thick scalp.

The stripped skull was piping hot, its mouth still agape in a scream. “AHHHHHHH—!!!”

Within the protective white circle, the terrified bystanders who nearly had their souls frightened out of their skins also began screaming, “AHHHHH—!!!”

Little Ying was also terror stricken, screaming as she dragged that bandage teenager into the circle. Xuan Ji reached out towards them with five fingers extended again, but this time, Xie Lian darted in front of her to block before saying, “General, cease this killing.”

He called her ‘General’, this was originally intended to remind her that she was once a heroine who charged on the front-lines in the battlefield to protect and defend in the name of her kingdom. Be that as it may, Xuan Ji instantly crushed the still screaming skull in her hand to pieces; with her beautiful face in that moment seeming quite deformed. She sneered, “Is he afraid to come see me?”

Xie Lian was at a loss. He thought to himself, might as well pretend to be someone sent by General Pei first……yet Xuan Ji hadn’t needed a reply. She laughed aloud a few times before she suddenly turned around and pointed at that Godly statue, “I burn your temples and stirred up trouble in your domain! All in hopes that you’d come pay me a glance! I’ve waited for you for so many years!”

She stared at that Godly statue in a daze for a long while, before she suddenly leapt up, strangling its neck and shaking violently as she screeched, “YET YOU STILL REFUSE TO COME SEE ME, IS IT BECAUSE YOU FEEL GUILT TOWARDS ME?! LOOK AT MY LEGS!!! LOOK AT MY APPEARANCE NOW! IT WAS ALL FOR YOU, ALL FOR YOU!!! IS YOUR HEART MADE OF IRON?!” ”

As an outsider, Xie Lian did not think he had the right to comment. However, according to his own feelings, he couldn’t help but think to himself, “If you wanted to see him, couldn’t you have done it in a more normal way? If there was someone who wanted to see me using your methods, I wouldn’t want to come at all.”

On the other end, Little Ying and the bandaged teenager finally returned to the circle and looked towards his direction. Little Ying anxiously whispered, “Young lord……”

Upon hearing her, Xie Lian smiled, indicating that she need not worry. But who would have known that this smile of his would cause Xuan Ji’s face to instantly contort. Suddenly leaping down from the Godly statue, she bolted over and said, “Since you don’t look at me but instead like looking at other women who likes to smile, I will slowly let you have your fill!”

Although the one she began strangling was Xie Lian, her words were nevertheless directed at General Pei. Xie Lian originally thought it was because Xuan Ji was not able to marry the one she loved, and thus upon seeing those brides on the marriage sedans, smiling happily, her heart became filled with jealousy

But he’d never thought it would turn out to be because this General Pei liked women who like to smile. In Xuan Ji’s deranged state, she managed to distort the smiling brides to them getting married to her beloved instead.

No wonder she had burned down all the Ming Guang temples below the mountain. It must be because she could no longer bear to see all these women coming and going, in and out of General Pei’s temple all day, all the while sharing the same Godly statue as her. This female ghost was worthy of being ranked ‘Wrath’.

Despite her broken legs, her speed was still so demonically fast. Even after she had been hit by Ruoye, she still remained incredibly strong. Xie Lian and her became stuck in a deadlock as she strangled him. He was just about to call Ruoye over when he suddenly heard a loud shout, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh—”

When that young girl Little Ying saw his current predicament with the female ghost, she swiftly picked up a branch from the ground and charged over. As she was running, she began yelling loudly, as if this would give herself more courage in the process.

Xuan Ji had no need to even make a move against Little Ying. She only turned to look at her and the very next moment, Little Ying was flung back backwards before she could even come close. She flew several meters away with her head downwards, and body upwards, before she smashed into the ground.

That bandaged teenager hoarsely cried “Ahhh” as he rushed over. Xie Lian was also startled before sitting up. However, he suddenly felt a chill from behind his head.

Xuan Ji’s five fingers were already upon his head, as if she was just about to rip his skull out of his scalp like she had done with the youngster from before. In a moment of desperation, Xie Lian’s right hand grabbed her wrist before shouting, “Bind!”

Only the sound ‘shua shua’ burst into the air as a white strip of silk immediately appeared. Ruoye wound itself around Xuan Ji, binding her upper body, with her arms tied behind her back. Since Xuan Ji’s legs were already broken, she was unable to dodge in time.

She fell heavily on her knees with a thump, then proceeded to roll about on the ground in an attempt to break apart the white silk. Her actions, however, only made Ruoye wound around her even more tightly. Having barely escaped from this crisis, Xie Lian hadn’t even caught his breath before he immediately got up and ran toward where Little Ying had fallen.

With Ruoye having been called away by Xie Lian, there were still people too wary to randomly move about. But there were also a few villagers bold enough to have become used to those fumbling brides and went to encircle Xie Lian and Little Ying.

That bandaged teenager knelt by Little Ying’s side, at a loss of what to do. He was as anxious as if he was like a small bug on a hot pot. No one dared to move her, because they were all worried she may have broken something important. If they moved her now, it could perhaps make her situation worse.

Xie Lian quickly checked her condition despite knowing in his heart that no matter how careful they were around her, it would be useless. With a fall like that, it was obvious she won’t live through it.

Even though his time spent with this girl, Little Ying, was not long, not to mention, they didn’t converse that much either, but he knew that despite her appearance being ugly, her heart was kind. For her to have such an ending, it weighed heavily on one’s heart.

Over on the other side, Xuan Ji shouldn’t be able to break away from Ruoye for a little while longer. Within his heart, Xie Lian thought, “Even if it’s useless, we can’t let her die in this position.” So, he very carefully flipped her over.

Little Ying’s face was drenched in blood, causing everyone to sigh and click their tongues at the sight. Yet, she still had a breath in her left, so she quietly murmured: “……Young Lord, I turned out to be more of a hindrance than a help, didn’t I……”

Although she hadn’t hindered him, she really wasn’t of any real help either. At that moment, Xie Lian was already about to call for Ruoye, so he wouldn’t have needed any help. And as for that branch of hers, even if she somehow managed to land a hit on Xuan Ji, it wouldn’t have resulted in anything at all. What’s more, it would have been impossible for her to have approached that female ghost in the first place. So truth to be told, she had thrown away her life in vain.

Xie Lian said, “You didn’t. You helped a lot. Look, only after you came over and drew away the female ghost’s attention, did I have the time to subdue her. It was all thanks to you. However, next time, you can’t be like this. If you want to help, you have to tell me first. Otherwise, if I didn’t react in time, it may end up disastrous.”

Little Ying smiled and said with a sigh, “Young lord, you don’t need to humor me. I know that I did not help at all, nor will there be a next time.”

Her words became muffled as she coughed up more blood. Within the drops of red were a couple of teeth that had broken off. The bandaged teenager was anxious to the point of trembling and could only cry, unable to think of anything to say.

Little Ying said to him, “In the future, don’t go down the mountain to steal food again. If they find you, and beat you to death, you’ll be done for.”

Xie Lian spoke, “If he gets hungry, he can come find me for food.”

Upon hearing his words, Little Ying’s eyes immediately lit up, “……Really? Then, then thank you very much……”

As she smiled, tears slowly trickled down from her small eyes.

Softly, she said, “I feel as though my entire life, there weren’t many days where I lived happy.”

Xie Lian also didn’t know what to say, and gently patted her hand. Little Ying sighed, “Oh well, forget it. I might just be someone……born unlucky.”

Her words sounded a little laughable. Furthermore, due to her crooked nose and slanted eyes, she was so ugly that it was truly a bit comical. With blood and tears running down her cheeks, it also looked quite funny.

As tears streamed down, Little Ying continued to speak, “But still, even so, I still……I still……”

Having said that, the young girl took her last breath and passed away. That bandaged teenager saw that she had died, and so he hugged her dead body and began to quietly sob. His head burrowed into her stomach, as if because he had lost his only support, he refused to lift his head up ever again.

Xie Lian reached over and closed her eyes, before silently telling her from his heart, “You are much stronger than I.”

Chapter 11 (II): The Mountain’s Locked Ancient Temple, The Forest of Hanging Corpses

Right at this moment, the bizarre sound of a clock could be heard.

“Dong! Dong! Dong!” Three chimes echoed loudly. Xie Lian was instantly overcome with a bout of dizziness. He asked, “What is going on?”

When he surveyed his surroundings again, the brides all swayed before falling to the ground. Only their arms were still raised, pointing at the sky. The villagers also fell and did not rise again. It was as if they had all lost consciousness from the quake of the ear-splitting clock chimes.

Xie Lian also felt a bit dizzy. With one hand on his forehead, he exerted himself to stand up, only for his legs to go weak before he half knelt on the ground. Luckily, someone supported him. When he raised his head up to see who, he discovered it was Nan Feng.

As it turned out, after the seven brides entered the forest, they had dispersed in separate directions. Nan Feng basically had to scour the entire mountain to catch them all and had just returned. Seeing his calm demeanor, Xie Lian immediately asked, “What’s with the bell?”

Nan Feng said to him, “Need not worry, they are reinforcements.”

Following his line of sight, Xie Lian suddenly discovered that a row of soldiers had appeared in front of Ming Guang Temple.

This row of soldiers all wore armor, glowing in divine power as mighty aura faintly radiated from them. At the very front stood a tall and handsome young general. It was clear he wasn’t an ordinary person. That general walked over with his hands clasped behind his back. Once he was in front of Xie Lian, he bowed slightly, and said, “Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Before Xie Lian was even able to open his mouth to inquire, Nan Feng said in a low voice, “This is General Pei.”

Xie Lian immediately glanced at Xuan Ji who was on the ground, and repeated, “General Pei?”

This General Pei wasn’t quite what he imagined, nor was he similar to the Godly statue at all. That Godly statue was flourishing with heroism, while his countenance overflowing with arrogance. It was an invasive and powerful type of handsomeness. Meanwhile, although this young general was also quite handsome, his appearance was fair, while his countenance looked peaceful like a cold jade. Void of any killing intent, and full of undisturbed calmness. You could say he was a general, yet it wouldn’t be strange if somehow claimed he was a strategizing minister instead.

General Pei saw Xuan Ji on the ground and spoke, “Ling Wen Palace Hall notified us that the situation of Mount Yu Jun has rather a lot to do with us Ming Guang Palace, so this subordinate hurried over. I did not expect that it really does have a rather deep relationship with us. For your trouble, you have my gratitude, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Xie Lian thanked Ling Wen in his heart. In what way had Ling Wen Palace’s efficiency decreased?? “I thank you for your troubles as well, General Pei.”

But when Xuan Ji, in her struggles, vaguely heard the words “General Pei”, she suddenly raised her head and fervently shouted, “Pei Lang, Pei Lang! Is it you, have you come? Have you finally come?”

Having been tied up by Ruoye, no matter how wild she was with joy, she could only kneel up. Yet who would have expected her to take in the sight of the General, only to go pale in the face. “Who are you?!”

On Xie Lian’s side, he was giving Nan Feng a summary of what the situation was with the ghost bridegroom. When he heard her question, he asked, “Isn’t this General Pei? Has she waited so long that she can’t recognize him anymore?”

Nan Feng answered, “He is General Pei. But not the one she has been waiting for.”

Xie Lian found it strange. “Don’t tell me there are two General Peis?”

But Nan Feng answered, “That’s right, there indeed are two!”

As it turned out, the General Pei this female ghost Xuan Ji was waiting for was Ming Guang Temple’s main god, while the one in front of them was the deputy god. He was also someone from General Pei’s family’s successor. To differentiate them when they were called, everyone called this one “Little General Pei”. In a proper Ming Guang Temple, it was necessary to honour them with both positive and reversed moon blocks

1.

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General Pei was the main god of the temple, so his god statues faced the temple doors. Little General Pei’s god statues were positioned behind his. However, although one was from a previous generation and the other from a later generation, they looked as if they were brothers. But for two people from the same family ascending, it could be regarded as a very odd story that captured one’s imagination.

Xuan Ji looked around but still did not find the person she wanted to see among the soldiers. She bleakly asked, “Where is Pei Ming? Why did he not come? Why did he not come see me?”

Little General Pei nodded his head slightly, answering, “General Pei is occupied with an important matter.”

Xuan Ji mumbled, “Important matter?”

Under her long hair, her tears started to fall as she said, “I’ve waited for him for centuries, what important matter does he have? Back then, in order to see me, he would cross half of the border in a single night, so what important matter could he have now? So important that he wouldn’t even be willing to see me once? An important matter? He doesn’t actually have one, right?”

Little General Pei said, “General Xuan Ji, please be on your way

2.”

Two soldiers of Ming Guang Temple broke formation and walked over. Ruoye swiftly leapt from Xuan Ji and wound around Xie Lian’s wrist affectionately. Xie Lian softly patted it twice to comfort it.

Xuan Ji allowed those two soldiers to grab her as she knelt there in a daze. Then, abruptly, she started to struggle, pointing towards the sky as she cursed, “Pei Ming! I curse you!”

Her cry was very sharp. Xie Lian stared blankly before he thought to himself, “Isn’t this cursing the predecessor while in front of their successor?”

But that Little General Pei kept a straight face and said, “Please excuse this scene.”

Xuan Ji continued to shout herself hoarse, “I curse you, you better never fall in love with anyone. Otherwise, if such a day comes, I curse you to be like me, forevermore and for all eternity, to be endlessly scorched by love! Let the fire sear through your entire body and very being!”

At this time, Little General Pei said to Xie Lian and the others, “Please excuse my rudeness and wait a moment.” He lifted two fingers and lightly pressed them to his temple. This gesture was what activated the spirit communication array, so he must be communicating with someone. After a moment, he let out a “hmmm”, lowered his hand and returned them clasped behind his back. He turned toward Xuan Ji and said, “General Pei would like me to pass on a message—’That is impossible.’”

Xuan Ji screeched, “I curse you—!!!”

Little Pei General slightly raised his hand, and ordered, “Take her away.”

Two soldiers picked up the crazily struggling Xuan Ji and dragged her away. Xie Lian asked, “Little General Pei, may I ask, how will Xuan Ji be dealt with?”

Little Pei General answered, “She will be restrained beneath a mountain.”

Finding a mountain to restrain her, this was indeed the method often used by the heavens to deal with demons and ghosts. After muttering to himself for a while, Xie Lian still said, “This General Xuan Ji’s resentment is rather heavy. Since she’s constantly thinking about the hatred from committing treason against her kingdom and how her legs were broken because of General Pei, I’m afraid that suppressing her won’t last long.

Little General Pei titled his head, and said, “She said she committed treason and broke her legs due to General Pei?”

Xie Lian answered, “She indeed said before, that it was because of General Pei that she ended up in her current state. As for what the truth is, I do not know.”

Little General Pei spoke, “If it is to be said that way, then sure. It is true she committed treason for General Pei. But the details may differ to what other people may think. After herself and General Pei had parted ways, in order to urge him to stay, General Xuan Ji did not hesitate to offer up military intelligence. However, General Pei was unwilling to accept this unfair advantage and did not take her offer.”

……Xie Lian would have never thought that her, ‘I betrayed my country for you’, was actually like this. He asked, “Then when she said her legs were broken because of General Pei..….?”

Little General Pei answered, “She broke her own legs herself.”

……She broke them herself?

Little General Pei answered, flat and unwavering, “General Pei does not like strong-minded women, and Xuan Ji’s natural disposition is strong-willed. This is why they could not stay together for long. General Xuan Ji was unwilling to let go, so she said to General Pei that she was willing make sacrifices and change herself. Thus, she voluntarily abolished her martial arts and broke her own two legs. In this way, she did the equivalent of breaking both her wings and tying herself to General Pei. Despite all this, General Pei didn’t abandon her. He took her in and looked after her, yet, he still wouldn’t take her as his wife. Because General Xuan Ji’s long-cherished wish could not be fulfilled, she killed herself in hate. Not for any other reason, but only to make General Pei feel sad and aggrieved. But, forgive me for speaking so bluntly—”

Little General Pei’s speech had been rather refined and courteous from beginning to end. With an overly calm expression he said, “But that will not happen.”

Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. He didn’t speak out loud, but he thought to himself, “Just what kind of people are they?”

Little General Pei spoke again, “For who was in the right or wrong, I do not know. I only know that if General Xuan Ji had originally been willing to let go, it wouldn’t have ended this way. Your Highness Crown Prince, this subordinate shall take my leave.”

Xie Lian returned the fist and palm salute and saw them off. Nan Feng gave his personal evaluation, “Weirdos.”

Xie Lian thought to himself, he himself was also a laughingstock in the three realms, a famous weirdo; it was not his place to critique other people. As for the matter between General Pei and Xuan Ji, unless one was directly involved, it was better not to comment on who was right or wrong. He could only pity those seventeen innocent brides, the military officials and drivers who had escorted them. It truly was an unexpected disaster.

Speaking of the brides, he immediately turned around to take a look, only to see that the dead bodies of the seventeen brides were all showing different stages of change. While some turned into white bones, others started to rot and emit a strong foul stench. The odor woke everyone on the ground. When the villagers slowly came to their senses and took in the situation, it was another round of great alarm and shock.

Xie Lian took this chance to ramble at them and scatter some doctrine about good and bad karma retribution. He told everyone that once they went down the mountain, they must pray a lot for the brides. In addition, they should try to think of ways to notify the brides’ family so that their corpses could be claimed. They definitely should not do anything shady like selling the corpses or any other shameful deeds.

After experiencing such a core-shaking night, and without a leader stirring up trouble, how could anyone listening dare to say otherwise? One after another, they all agreed while trembling with fear. They all felt as if they had all undergone a nightmare. Only then did they realize how they had all acted as if they were possessed last night. With so many dead, how could they still only have thoughts full of earning money?

Thinking back, they all felt terrified of themselves. Last night, since everyone did it, they relied on the fact that they were big in numbers and that there had been someone taking the lead. Thus, their muddle-headed selves rushed along with the flow. Now, still with lingering fear in their hearts, it was best to obediently repent and pray for blessings.

Dawn has yet to rise. Within the mountain, there were still wolf packs waiting to cause trouble. Nan Feng had only just run a lap around the mountain, but he was already tasked to lead a large group of people off the mountain. In spite of that, he made no complaints, and agreed with Xie Lian to discuss that forest of hanging corpses and its follow-up arrangements together later.

After that bandaged teenager woke up, he sat once more by Little Ying’s corpse, hugging her. Without saying anything, Xie Lian also went to sit next to him. After racking his brain for a while and just as he about to say something comforting, he suddenly noticed that the bandaged teenager’s head was bleeding.

If it was the blood from the corpse forest, it should have dried already. But this blood was still flowing without pause, so it could only be that he was injured. Immediately, Xie Lian said to him, “Your head is injured, take off your bandages and let me help you take a look.”

That teenager slowly raised his head, his two bloodshot eyes looking at him as he hesitated timidly. Xie Lian gave a small smile, and told him, “Don’t be afraid. If you are injured, it must be treated. I promise I won’t be frightened by you.”

That teenager hesitated for a moment, then turned around and slowly unwrapped the bandages on his head. His movements were very slow, and Xie Lian waited patiently for him. He was already thinking over what he should ask next. ‘This teenager definitely could not stay at Mount Yu Jun, but where could he go? It was not like he could return to Heaven with me. Not even I know when my next meal will appear, so I need to think of a dependable arrangement to settle him down somewhere. Furthermore, there’s Green Ghost, Qi Rong……’

At this point, that teenager had finished taking off his bandages and turned around.

And when Xie Lian clearly took in that face, he felt as if in that split second, all the blood in his body drained away.


	12. A Ghost in Red Sets Fire Upon the Military and Civil Temples

As he had suspected, on the young man’s face was a serious burn scar. However, beneath the expanse of the blood red scar, one could vaguely make out three or four very small human faces.

Those human faces were all the size of an infant’s palm, scattered crookedly across his cheeks and forehead. Because they had been burned before, each face was severely shriveled and looked as though they were screeching in pain. With these strange, screeching miniature human faces squeezed onto an originally normal human face, it truly was scarier than any ghost!

In that instant, upon seeing that face, Xie Lian felt as though he was thrown into a nightmare. An immense fear numbed his entire being, to the extent he was unaware of when he stood up. He also wasn’t aware of what kind of expression appeared on his face, but it must have been extremely frightening.

The young man was slowly and hesitantly taking his bandage off, already feeling uneasy. Seeing his reaction, he also took two steps back, seemingly aware that Xie Lian couldn’t accept a face like this. As if to protect himself, he suddenly covered that terrifying face, leapt up off the ground, before screaming and fleeing toward the depths of the forest.

He chased and shouted after him, “Wait! Come back!”

But because he had stood still for quite some time before finally reacting, and with how that teenager was more familiar with the routes of the mountain (having been used to hiding and escaping in the dark), it comes without saying that the teenager would disappear without a trace. No matter how much Xie Lian shouted, he would not come out. With no one around to help search, and lacking spiritual power, thus rendering him unable to use the spirit communication array; he dashed through the mountain and searched for an hour with no results.

As the cold wind blew, Xie Lian became more clear-headed and knew that randomly fumbling around like a headless housefly wouldn’t result in anything. He gathered himself together and thought: “Perhaps he will come for Little Ying’s corpse.”

He doubled back to Ming Guang Temple—but was startled.

He was greeted with a mass of people clothed in black all gathered in the forest behind the temple. With solemn faces, they carefully took down the forty or so corpses from their hanging positions above. At the front of the forest stood a tall figure with his arms crossed, currently supervising the group of people. The head turned, revealing an elegant yet cold face belonging to that of a young man, which turned out to be Fu Yao. It seemed like he had made trip back to Heaven, before bringing back a group of officials down from Xuan Zhen Palace Hall to come help.

Xie Lian was just about to speak when the sound of footsteps came from behind. It was Nan Feng who had also finished sending off the villagers and had just returned. When he saw this scene, he cast a glance at Fu Yao and asked, “Didn’t you run off by yourself?”

The way he said it was very unpleasant, causing Fu Yao to raise an eyebrow to show his displeasure. Xie Lian did not want them to begin arguing at such a critical moment and thus interjected, “I was the one who had him return to bring backup.”

Nan Feng sneered, “Then where are our reinforcements? I thought at the very least, you would get your family’s General to personally come.”

Fu Yao answered with indifference, “When I’d returned, I heard that Little General Pei had already made it down here. Thus, I did not spend my time looking for our General. Furthermore, even if I tried to find him, with how busy he is, he would not necessarily have the time to come.”

Quite frankly, according to Xie Lian’s understanding towards Mu Qing, even if the General had the time, he still wouldn’t have personally come. But Xie Lian currently did not have the time to think more on the topic and wearily said, “You guys shouldn’t argue right now, help me find the bandaged teenager first.”

Nan Feng furrowed his brows and asked, “Wasn’t he with you just now, keeping watch over that girl’s corpse?”

Xie Lian answered, “I had him take off his bandages and scared him away.”

Fu Yao’s lips quirked. “That’s unlikely. Your crossdressing has not reached the point of frightening.”

Xie Lian sighed. “Blame me for being so perturbed that I didn’t react in time. Little Ying had just died, so he was already provoked. Then, he thought I was frightened by his face. Perhaps he was unable to bear this kind of blow, so he ran off”

Fu Yao wrinkled his nose and asked, “Was he really that ugly to that extent?”

Xie Lian answered, “It’s not a question of whether he was ugly or not. He……has the human face plague.”

Hearing those three words, Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s movements and expression immediately stiffened.

They finally understood just why Xie Lian would be so rattled.

Eight hundred years ago, Xian Le Ancient Kingdom’s Imperial City had been swept by an epidemic. In the end, the entire kingdom was wiped out.

That plague, when people fell ill, small swellings would first appear on their body. The swelling would grow increasingly larger and harder, and begin to ache. Soon after, they would start to notice that the swelling would start to become uneven, three sunken places and a convex, looking like……eyes, mouth and a nose.

After that, the features would become more clear until finally, it would resemble something similar to a human face. And if left ignored, more human faces would grow on their body. It was reportedly said that some faces grew for so long that they had grown their own characteristics and could even open their mouths to speak or scream.

And the name of this epidemic, was called the human face plague!

Fu Yao’s face went through several changes before he un-crossed his arms and said, “How is that possible! That was already eradicated centuries ago. It not possible for it to reappear.”

In response, Xie Lian only spoke one line. “I did not mistake what I saw.”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao found themselves entirely unable to refute him. What Xie Lian said, no one could have refuted it.

Xie Lian further added, “His face had traces of being burned before, it might have been from trying to burn those faces off.”

For those who suffered from the human face plague, for many of them, their first reaction would have been to take a knife and slice off the horrifying thing, or use fire to burn it to death. They wouldn’t have hesitated to sever a limb or break their bones if it came down to it.

Nan Feng spoke murmured, “Then, he likely isn’t an ordinary person. He might have even lived on this earth for several centuries. But more importantly, is the plague on him contagious?”

Despite this being a major headache, this problem was still something Xie Lian had calmly contemplated over. He answered with certainty, “No. The human face plague is very contagious. If the disease on that teenager was contagious, then everyone on Mount Yu Jun would have been infected by him by now considering how long he’s been hidden there. He should have been……cured already. It’s just that, he can’t get rid of the scars that were left behind.”

The three of them couldn’t risk being careless. Fu Yao seemed to have a rather high position in his Xuan Zhen Palace Hall, and thus called the Heaven Officials to scour every inch of Mount Yu Jun. In spite of that, they were still unable to track down that young man. Unfortunately, he must have already escaped from the mountain and disappeared into the busy crowds.

For the present, they could only return to the Heaven Realm and seek Ling Wen Palace for assistance on this matter before awaiting further news. The thing on the teenager’s body wasn’t contagious. At least this one fact was something to be rejoiced. But Xie Lian thought back to his terrifying appearance. If his appearance was to be discovered after leaving the mountain, he was afraid the teenager would be seen and called a monster, cursed, beaten and even killed. It would be best to find him as soon as possible.

Without wanting to delay any further on Mount Yu Jun, he picked up Little Ying’s corpse and set off descending the mountain. Because he was so absent-minded, only when the tea sommelier screamed at him, did he notice that he had nearly entered the Chance Encounter small shop while holding the corpse. He repeatedly apologized and went to find someone to help bury the body before returning. After he finally dealt with everything and sat down, Xie Lian silently sighed.

One matter finally came to an end; yet he felt as though these past few days after his ascension had been more exhausting than collecting scraps for an entire year in the human realm. Climbing up and down, leaping over roofs and vaulting over walls, rolling, yelling, and even doing costume changes and crossdressing entertainment. All the bones in his body were like they were going to collapse and fall apart, yet there were still many unsolved riddles and loose ends to deal with. He really wanted to hang a sign on his back saying, ‘Ascension is not as good as collecting scraps’ and promote it in the mortal world.

Fu Yao flipped the front hem of his robes and sat beside Xie Lian’s hand. Unable to hold it in any longer, he rolled his eyes at him and asked, “Why are you still in those clothes?”

Upon seeing his eye roll, Xie Lian was overcome with an inexplicable feeling of familiarity. Only then did he finally take off the bridal dress he had been wearing this entire time. As he wiped off the rouge and face powder, he felt a bit forlorn. “Then wouldn’t this mean I was dressed like this the whole time I was talking to Little General Pei? Nan Feng, ah, if only you had reminded me of this back then.”

Fu Yao said, “It might be because you clearly looked too happy while wearing it.”

Nan Feng ran around the entire day, but now he also finally got the chance to sit down and rest. He said, “There was no need of a reminder. Little General Pei wouldn’t care about what you wear. Even if you dress ten times weirder than your current attire, he wouldn’t utter a single word when he goes back.”

Xie Lian felt that tonight, he had really born this Little Heaven Official with much toil, so he poured him a cup of tea. After thinking back to Little General Pei’s icy cool expression and comparing it to Xuan Ji’s crazy one, he said, “This Little General Pei is really calm and collected. Such great equanimity.”

Nan Feng drank that cup of tea and objected with, “You shouldn’t judge him by his outwardly refined, courteous appearance. Like his predecessor, they’re both hard to deal with.

This much Xie Lian knew, and towards this matter, Fu Yao was also in agreement and said, “Pei Su is an upstart who ascended about two hundred years ago, but his power is awfully fierce and he climbed up the ranks very fast. When he was appointed by General Pei, he had barely come of age. Do you know what he did then?”

Xie Lian asked, “What?”

Fu Yao coldly spat out one line, “He massacred everyone in a captured city.”

When Xie Lian heard this, he was pensive but not surprised. In the Heavenly Court, emperors, kings and generals were everywhere. The saying “One military achievement result in ten thousand withered bones” was used to describe the matter of conquering and defending a kingdom. If you had the desire to become an immortal, you must first become an illustrious individual. And beneath our feet, we walked a bloody path. Fu Yao summed it up, “In the Heavenly Court, there are few that are easy to get along, and no one can be trusted.”

Xie Lian listened to his tone, which sounded as if it was coming from an experienced person warning a youngling, and had the urge to laugh. He suspected that perhaps Fu Yao had gone through a lot in the Heaven Court, for he must have felt deeply on this topic for him to speak in such a way. But he also knew that despite ascending three times, the time he spent in heaven each ascension was short lived and fleeting, much like the lifespan of a night blooming cactus, gone with a blink of an eye. If one were to discuss the subject of understanding these immortals around him, he was truly no match against these two little Heaven Officials.

Seeming to disagree with Fu Yao’s words, Nan Feng said, “Don’t be an alarmist. There’s good and bad everywhere, and there are still quite a few trustworthy Heaven Officials in the Heaven Court.”

Yet Fu Yao responded, “Haha, trustworthy Heaven Official, are you referring to your family’s General?”

Nan Feng answered, “Whether or not it’s my family’s General, I don’t know. But it definitely isn’t your family’s General.”

Faced with this sort of situation, Xie Lian was long accustomed to it, it was no longer out of the ordinary. In addition, there was still something on his mind, so he didn’t even have the energy to try and divert the topic.

With things wrapped up in the north, he returned to heaven. He first went to Ling Wen Palace to tell her about the situation with the bandaged teenager, entrusting her to look for him in the human realm. Hearing his news, Ling Wen’s face fell serious and agreed to his request. She added, “Ling Wen Palace Hall will do everything within our power to search. But who would have thought to expect that a visit to the North could have tied in so many things. We really troubled you, Your Highness.”

Xie Lian replied, “I must thank those two little Heaven Officials for volunteering to go help, and Ming Guang Palace’s Little General Pei. I really don’t know how to thank them.”

Ling Wen spoke, “Since the problem was caused by an ill-fated relationship with Old Pei, then naturally Little Pei would deal with it. He’s already used to cleaning up messes, so there’s no need to thank him. If Your Highness is not doing anything else when you return, could I trouble you to check into the Spirit Communication Array? Everyone still needs to gather and discuss this matter.”

Xie Lian also had many questions that went unanswered. After leaving Ling Wen Palace, he aimlessly went round and around, before he found himself on a small stone bridge.

The stone bridge crossed over a running river. The river water was extremely clear, for you could make out the movement of clouds below. Past the running water and clouds, you could even make out the rolling mountains and large stretches of square-shaped towns from the world below. He thought to himself: “This is a good place” and thus sat himself down on the bridgehead, before he silently recited the password and joined the communication array.

The moment he entered, he was met with such a rare instance of bustling excitement within the spirit communication array. Numerous voices spoke over one another, everything was in utter chaos. The first thing he heard was Feng Xin’s curses, “F*ck! Have you guys chosen which mountain to suppress her under yet?! That female ghost Xuan Ji is a lunatic, no matter how much we questioned her, she would only clamor over seeing General Pei while refusing to tell us the whereabouts of Green Ghost Qi Rong!”

Little General Pei said, “General Xuan Ji was always a stubborn and vehement person.”

”Feng Xin’s voice became even more furious, “Little General Pei, has your General Pei returned yet? Hurry up and let her see him, and get the whereabouts of Green Ghost Qi Rong out of her so we can be rid of her sooner!”

Feng Xin was most unaccustomed to dealing with women. To have him deal with interrogating her, Xie Lian couldn’t help but sympathise.

Little General Pei replied, “It’s useless even if she sees him. She’ll be even crazier after she sees him.”

Another voice piped in, “The Forest of Hanging Corpses again… Qi Rong’s taste is always so low class, it’s unpleasant.”

“Even their Ghost Realm disdains him for having awful taste, so it’s clear to all that his taste is indeed very low class.”

All the Heaven Officials interacted amicably. It was clear they were all very familiar with each other. As a newcomer who had ascended eight hundred years ago before, Xie Lian should have silently stayed where he was without speaking. But after he listened for a while, he couldn’t help but cut in, “Excuse me, what was that about the Forest of Hanging Corpses in Mount Yu Jun? Is Green Ghost Qi Rong in that area too?”

Because he did not often speak in the spirit communication array, his voice was unfamiliar to everyone. As the Heaven Officials contemplated whether or not they should answer, the first one to answer him was unexpectedly Feng Xin. He answered, “Green Ghost Qi Rong isn’t at Mount Yu Jun. But what happened over at the Forest of Hanging Corpses was the female ghost Xuan Ji’s doing, it was what he requested and her offering to him.”

Xie Lian continued to ask, “Is Xuan Ji Green Ghost’s subordinate?”

Little General Pei answered this time. “Yes. General Xuan Ji died several hundred years ago, even though she had some resentment, she was always powerless when it came to causing trouble. But that only lasted until a couple hundred years ago. Green Ghost Qi Rong found her to his taste and appreciated her very much. He took her in and made her one of his subordinates, causing her spiritual power to significantly increase.”

The meaning behind his words were basically, the female ghost Xuan Ji causing trouble could not be blamed on General Pei, because she originally did not have the ability to cause it. If they wanted to pin the blame on someone, then they should pin it on Green Ghost Qi Rong, for it was him who took in Xuan Ji and gave her the ability to harm people. Originally, the Heaven Officials present had all thought that this was all a disaster caused by General Pei’s karma. They just didn’t voice their opinions out loud, but Little General Pei had still perceived it. With this neither gentle or heavy way of a reminder that was directed toward them all, they immediately hid their thoughts deeper into their hearts. Xie Lian asked some more, “Then has Mount Yu Jun been thoroughly investigated? There should be another child spirit.”

This time, it was Mu Qing’s voice that surfaced, sounding neither cold nor warm as he asked, “Child spirit? What child spirit?”

Xie Lian thought to himself, Fu Yao probably didn’t tell him the details. Perhaps even him coming out to help him was kept a secret, so he did not mention Fu Yao in case it might cause him more trouble. He answered, “On the sedan chair, I heard the laughter of a child who spoke in nursery rhymes as a warning. At the time, there were two other small heaven officials present yet neither one of them sensed it, so the spiritual power of this child spirit must also be rather exceptional.”

Mu Qing said, “No spirit child was found in the search at Mount Yu Jun.”

Xie Lian found this to be very strange, it couldn’t have been that the child spirit had specifically came to warn him? When he thought of that, he suddenly recalled of something else and asked, “Speaking of which, I also met a teenager that could command silver butterflies around on Mount Yu Jun. Does anyone know who that was?”

The lively, bustling chaotic spirit communication array suddenly fell silent the moment those words were out.

This kind of reaction, Xie Lian had seen it coming and so he just waited patiently. After a while, Ling Wen finally asked, “Your Highness Crown Prince, what did you just say?”

Mu Qing coldly answered for him, “He just said, he met Hua Cheng.”

Chapter 12 (II): A Ghost in Red Sets Fire Upon the Military and Civil Temples

Finally obtaining the name of that red-clothed young man, Xie Lian was ineffably in a good mood. He smiled and said, “So his name is Hua Cheng? Hm, this name suits him quite well.”

Upon hearing his tone and words, all the Heaven Officials on scene were rendered somewhat speechless. A short moment later, Ling Wen softly coughed and asked, “This… Your Highness the Crown Prince, have you heard of the so-called Four Great Calamities?”

Xie Lian thought to himself: “It’s a shame, but I only know of the Four Famous Tales.”

The aforementioned Four Famous Tales were highly praised anecdote stories of the time before the four Heavenly Officials from the Heavenly Court ascended— The Young Lord Who Poured Wine, The Crown Prince Who Pleased God, The General Who Broke His Sword, and The Princess Who Slit Her Throat. Of the four tales, The Crown Prince Who Pleased God was in fact referring to the sudden appearance of Xian Le’s Crown Prince during his martial performance. How the four tales came about was not particularly due to which heavens’ officials had more power but rather, which one of their tales was more profound, spread the furthest amongst mortals who shared their tales with enthusiasm.

News from outside the realm was always something Xie Lian was bad at keeping up with. To say he was ill-informed and ignorant couldn’t be closer to the truth. The only reason why he came to know about the Four Famous Tales was because he was one of the four tales himself. The phrase ‘Four Great Calamities’ was probably the new popular term that came after the four tales, but Xie Lian had never heard of it. However, since it contained the word ‘Calamity’, it couldn’t be anything good.

He said, “I feel sorry for saying this, but I haven’t heard of it before. Might I ask what the Four Great Calamities are?”

Mu Qing answered coolly, “Your Highness the Crown Prince trained in the mortal realm for centuries yet remains ignorant of such news. It really makes one curious as to what you have been doing all this time down there.”

Naturally, it was eating, sleeping, selling skills and collecting scraps. Xie Lian laughed as he said, “As a regular person, there are many things you could be busy with and it could get rather hectic. It is not any easier than being a Heaven Official.

Ling Wen answered, “The Four Great Calamities, and please take note, Your Highness. They are the Black Water Submerging Boats, Green Light Wandering Nights, White-Clothed Calamity, and Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower. Those refer to the four Demon Lords of the ghost realm that have caused the Heavenly Courts a great deal of headaches.”

Mortals, when one walked upwards, they become a god; when one walked downwards, they become a ghost.

The immortal gods established Heaven as their residence, severing themselves from the mortal realm and living high above as they overlooked the mortal world and all living beings. As for the ghost realm, it has not yet separated from the mortal realm. Demons and ghosts share the same realm as the humans. While some hide in the shadows, others take on human forms and mix amongst human crowds, wandering amongst them.

Ling Wen continued, “Black Water Submerging Boats is that of a powerful water demon. Despite reaching Devastation level, he rarely comes out to cause trouble and keeps a low-profile. Very few people have seen him before, therefore, he’s of little concern.”

“Green Light Wandering Nights is precisely the ghost with his low class-taste, and whom is fond of hanging bloody corpses upside down in forests, Green Ghost Qi Rong. He is, however, the only one out of the four calamities that has not reached Devastation level. Why would he be part of it? It might be due to his love for causing trouble all year round, being a huge annoyance. It might also be because with the addition of him, it makes four calamities, a number making things easier to remember. So, no one bothered questioning it.”

“As for the White-Clothed Calamity, Your Highness might be more familiar with this one. Its name is Bai WuXiang

1.”

Sitting perched upon the stone bridgehead, Xie Liang suddenly felt a sharp stabbing pain from his heart slowly spreading throughout his limbs upon hearing this name. His hands slightly trembled before he subconsciously gripped them.

Naturally, he was familiar.

It is said that when a ‘Devastation’ was born into the world, they would be the one to destroy kingdoms and throw the world into chaos. When Bai WuXiang came into being, the first kingdom he wiped out was Xian Le Kingdom.

Xie Lian remained silent. Ling Wen continued,” Nonetheless, Bai Wuxiang has already been extinguished. We won’t mention him again, and even if he still exists in this world, he wouldn’t be the one in the spotlight now.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, the silver butterflies you saw at Mount Yu Jun are also called Deathly Spirit Butterflies. Their master is the last member of the four calamities, and the one the Heavenly Court of today wants to provoke the least, ‘Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower, Hua Cheng.

Within the Heavenly Realm, to become the only ones capable of shouldering the title of being “renown” were Martial God Heavenly Emperor and the Crown Prince of Xian Le. Although the significance of the two could be said to be the opposite of one another, their fame was both relatively on the same level. In the Ghost Realm, the one that could be said to be the equivalent in reputation against the two gods, was none other than Hua Cheng. Aside from him, there wasn’t anyone else.

If one wanted to get to know a Heavens’ Official, they’d only need to take a walk, find a temple to visit, examine the god’s statue, study how they dressed, and what kind of enchanted weaponry they carried. With that, one could understand them to a certain extent. If one wanted to understand them even more, they’d only need to listen to some of their legends passed on from person to person, and watch theatrical plays about their epics. What kind of a person they were before their ascension, what they’ve done in the past, all this information would have been dug out and laid bare for those interested. But when it came down to demons and ghosts, they were different. What kind of person were they before, and how do they look now, this information were all shrouded in mystery.

The name Hua Cheng definitely had to be fake, and his appearance must also be fake as well. This was because the him in the rumors was sometimes a temperamental and disagreeable teenager, sometimes a gentle, kind and elegant beautiful man, or sometimes a gorgeous female ghost with a poisonous heart. There was no end to what was said about him. About his actual appearance, the only definite thing was that he was clad entirely in red and would often appear with a rain of blood and foul winds as silver butterflies chased his lapel and sleeves.

As for his birth, there were even more versions of it. Some said he was a deformed child born without a right eye who had been bullied and humiliated from childhood and thus hated the world. Some said he was a young soldier who had died fighting for his ancient kingdom, and his soul had not been resigned to such a fate. There was also one that said he became a sentimental fool due to the pain of his beloved passing away; yet another which said he was a monster.

The oddest version, it was said that—and it really was just a rumor. But it was said that Hua Cheng was actually a Heavenly Official who had ascended. However, after he had ascended, he jumped down himself and degraded to a ghost. But that was just a legend that was not circulated around very much, so whether it was true or not was unknown, and few actually believed it.

However, even if it was true, it still had to be false. Because it was a humiliation to the Heavens for there to be someone in this world who was actually willing to give up being a god and preferred to jump down and be a ghost. In short, the more people discussed about him, the more muddled and confusing it became, and the more mysterious everything becomes.

As for why all the Heavenly Officials were especially afraid of Hua Cheng, there were many reasons. For example, his dark or light nature was undetermined. Sometimes he was cruel and fond of killing, sometimes he strangely committed benevolent acts. Another reason was how enormous his power in the mortal realm was and how many worshipers he had.

That’s right, people prayed to gods, praying for their blessings and protection in order to be far away from the onslaught of demons and ghosts, so Heavenly Officials had many worshipers. However, Hua Cheng, a ghost, actually also have such a large number of worshipers. It was almost at the point where he had enough power to cover the skies with just a single hand.

By now, an explanation was required. When Hua Cheng first emerged, he did something extremely famous.

He openly invited thirty-five Heavenly Officials to a fight. The invitation content was that he would fight the Martial Gods in martial arts, and the Literature Gods in debating.

Within those thirty-five Heaven Officials, there had been thirty-three of them who had felt it was ridiculous, but they had all been infuriated by his provoking and accepted the challenge. They prepared to join hands and teach the ghost a lesson.

The first one to compete with him had been the Martial Gods.

Martial Gods were the Heaven’s strongest gods, each one of them had a high number of worshipers and their spiritual power was outstanding. Fighting an insignificant novice ghost was something just a grasp away from victory. But who would have expected that the one battle would end in complete wipe-out. Even their godly weapons were totally crushed to powder by Hua Cheng’s extremely strange curved sword.

Only after the fight did they find out that Hua Cheng had come out from Tong Lu Mountain.

Tong Lu Mountain was a volcano, but that wasn’t the important point. The important point was that there was a city within it, named Gu City. What kind of place was Gu City? It was not a city where everyone raises Gu, for that city itself was a large-scale Gu Poison

2.

Every one hundred years, ten thousand ghosts would gather and kill each other, killing until only one of them remained, which completed the Gu. Although, many times, the result would be that not a single one of them remained. However, as long as even a single one survived to the end, then it would be the devil’s incarnate. In the past several hundred years, Gu City only had two ghosts that remained at the end of the fight. And those two as expected, both become Ghost Kings known by everyone in the mortal realm.

Hua Cheng was one of the two.

The Martial Gods had been utterly defeated. It was now the Literature Gods’ turn.

If they couldn’t beat him in a fight, then they should at least be able beat him in debating, right?

Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t win that either. That Hua Cheng had traversed the heaven and earth and could speak of the past and debate the current. He occasionally educated them, was occasionally malicious, was occasionally unyielding, was occasionally crafty, was occasionally insightful, was occasionally sophistic, and occasionally set traps. It really was a watertight debate, sharp and eloquent. He quoted evidence as backup, deluded people with lies, and attacked wherever he pleased. Several Literature Gods were scolded by him from the skies to the earth, from ancient times to the present. They were so angered they could cough up blood and have it reach the clouded firmament.

Hua Cheng became famous in a single battle.

However, if it had been just that, that would not have been enough to call him frightening. What was frightening was that after that overwhelming victory, he had requested the thirty-three Heaven Officials to fulfill their promise.

Before the challenge, both sides had made an agreement: If Hua Cheng lost, he would offer up his ashes. If the Heavenly Officials lost, then they would all voluntarily jump down from the Heavens and become ordinary people from now on. If Hua Cheng hadn’t acted so arrogant, with such severe stakes and with how the thirty-three Heaven Officials believed there was no way they would be defeated, they wouldn’t have agreed to fight and debate with him.

However, there wasn’t a single Heaven Official who fulfilled their promise. Although going back on their promise was humiliating, think about it, there were thirty-three of them who had lost. If only one of them had lost, then naturally it would be very humiliating. But when so many of them lost together, it wasn’t humiliating at all. They could even tease each other about it. As such, they reached a tacit understanding; they would all pretend that this had never happened at all. In any case, people were very forgetful, in another fifty years, perhaps no one would remember it.

They calculated that point pretty well, but the thing they didn’t take into calculation was that Hua Cheng was not so easily dealt with.

Not fulfilling your promise? Okay, he could help out.

As such, he burned down all the temples of these thirty-three Heaven Officials in the human realm.

This was the nightmare the immortal gods now talked about with pale faces—A ghost in red setting fire upon thirty-three military and civil temples.

The temple and worshipers were a Heavenly Official’s greatest source of spiritual power. With their palace halls gone, where would their worshipers go to pray to their god? And where would their incense come from? With their strength greatly injured, to rebuild their temples, they’d need a minimum of a hundred years to recover, and even then, they might not recover their former strength. To the Heavenly Officials, this was truly a devastating disaster that was even more frightening than a tribulation.

The stronger of the thirty-three heavenly officials had a couple thousand temples, the weaker ones also had a couple hundred. If one added them all together, there would be more than ten thousand temples. But Hua Cheng actually burned everything down in a single night. No one knew how he’d done it, but he had accomplished it.

It was simply insane.

The Heaven Officials complained tearfully to Jun Wu, but he was also helpless, and there wasn’t anything he could do. The challenge had been something the Heavenly Officials had agreed to themselves, and the promises had also been made by themselves. Hua Cheng had also been very crafty, he only destroyed the temples and did not harm anyone. So this was all equal to him digging a hole, asking if the gods would jump into it. Then, the gods chose to dig the hole even deeper before plunging into it themselves. So as matters stood, what could be done?

Originally, those thirty-three Heaven Officials had wanted to defeat that arrogant little ghost in front of the entire world, so they had chosen to hold the martial and literature competition in the dreams of many lords and nobles of the mortal realm. The purpose had been to display their godly powers in front of their worshipers. Who would have expected that what they would show to the nobles and lords would be their utterly defeated appearances? As such, after that dream, many lords chose to stop praying to the Heavenly Officials and switched over to praying to ghosts. These thirty-three Heaven Officials lost their worshipers and temples and gradually vanished without a trace. The numerous vacancies were only finally filled up when a new generation of Heaven Officials ascended.

From then on, whenever the name ‘Hua Cheng’ was mentioned in the mortal realm, many Heavenly Officials would tremble in fear. Even just hearing red clothes and silver butterflies would make their hair stand on the end. Some were afraid of irritating him or making him unhappy, because then he would come challenge them and then burn down their temples. Some were afraid because he had blackmail on them, so they weren’t able to move against him. Some were afraid because Hua Cheng had the power to cover the sky with his hand in the mortal world, so sometimes, when the Heavenly Officials had something to do there, they had no choice but to find and ask him to guide them. After this went on for a while, a portion of the Heavenly Officials also became his worshipers due to a strange mentality.

As such, the Heaven’s attitude toward this person was hate, fear and respect all at once.

And within those thirty-five Heavenly Officials, the two who had not taken up the challenge was the martial god Xuan Zhen’s General Mu Qing, and Nan Yang’s General Feng Xin.

They had not taken up the challenge, but it had not been out of fear of Hua Cheng. They simply had not paid attention to him and had felt it was unnecessary to take notice of it, and thus had not agreed to the fight. Who would have expected that this was a lucky and incomparably wise decision?

However, just because they did not fight him, it did not mean Hua Cheng had forgotten about them. While they were out on the Ghost Festival doing an inspection tour, they had bumped into each other and fought many times. Thus, Feng Xin and Mu Qing both had a physiological shadow left behind in their hearts due to the frantic devastation of those silver butterflies.

Despite listening to all of that, Xie Lian’s brain was still full of those silver butterflies, sparkling and translucent while cutely and cheerfully flying around him. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t connect them to the ones in the rumors. He couldn’t help but think to himself, “Are those little silver butterflies that frightening? They’re not that bad……they’re pretty cute.”


	13. Clothes Redder Than Maple, Skin as White as Snow

Of course, this was something he would never say out loud. However, it was no wonder that Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s complexions changed the moment they heard him mention those silver butterflies. It could be assumed that they had also suffered at the hands of the silver butterflies’ master along with the two Generals they served.

A Heavenly Official asked, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you encountered Hua Cheng. He, he, he……what did he do to you?”

This kind of tone, it sounded more like he was asking, “did you lose an arm or did you lose a leg?”.

Xie Lian said, “He didn’t do anything, just……”

When he spoke up to that point, he was actually somewhat without words. Xie Lian began to ponder in his head, “Only what? It wasn’t like he could say, ‘he only robbed my sedan, and then held my hand and led me along the whole way’”.

After falling silent for a moment, he could only say, “He only destroyed the bewildering array the female ghost Xuan Ji set down on Mount Yu Jun, and then brought me inside.”

Most of the Heavenly Officials began brooding over his words, either muttering to themselves or staying silent. Only after a while did a Heavenly Official ask, “Everyone, what do you think?”

Just by listening to their voices, Xie Lian could already imagine the appearances of all the Heavenly Officials as they repeatedly shook their heads with their hands out.

“No opinion, I completely don’t have an opinion!”

“I don’t know what he wants to do, it’s rather horrifying.”

“As always, nobody can make sense of what Hua Cheng wants to do……”

Although Xie Lian had just been given a rundown of Hua Cheng’s reputation as the devil incarnate, however toward this person, Xie Lian didn’t really think he was that scary. If he really had to say something, he thought that this time, it could even be considered that Hua Cheng had helped him. In short, the first prayer for blessings he received after ascending and returning to the Heavens ought to be finally considered finished in this manner.

It was already long agreed that all the merits from the Mount Yu Jun case would be considered as Xie Lian’s. Despite how some time had passed before the Official remembered to redeem his vow because of his daughter’s death, he still fulfilled his promise with a broken heart, although inevitably, he ended up paying less. However, after gathering from here and there and with them letting him off a bit, the eight million, eight hundred and eighty thousand merits were more or less considered paid off.

Without debt, Xie Lian’s body felt light and free, his heart practically a clear and boundless sky. In high spirits, he was entirely free from worry and very happy. Xie Lian decided to properly be a god, and it would be even better if he could become at least half a friend with the other Heavenly Officials.

Although it was usually peaceful within the Heaven’s spirit communication array, when it got busy, the shouts inside could go on for days on end. In addition, when the Heavenly Officials’ moods were good, and perhaps when they see something interesting, they would talk about it within the array. When that moment came, they would chuckle lowly for a short while.

Although Xie Lian couldn’t tell who was who, he still silently listened to everyone speak. However, he couldn’t go on staying silent forever. Thus, after he listened for a while, he would sometimes appear to say something warmly, like:

“It really is quite interesting.”

“I read a very beautiful little poem, let me share it with everyone.”

“There’s this little secret know-how that’s very effective for dealing with waist and leg pain, let me share it with everyone.”

However, regrettably, every time he sent out these carefully selected things that were quite beneficial to the body and mind, the spirit communication array would fall silent. After a while, Ling Wen really couldn’t stand it anymore and privately told him, “Your Highness ah, the things you send in the spirit communication array are all very good, however, I’m afraid that even a Heavenly Official a few hundred years older than you wouldn’t send them.”

Xie Lian began to feel a bit depressed. In reality, he clearly wasn’t the oldest. However, when he was with the other Heavenly Officials, why was he practically like an elderly person who couldn’t keep up with the topic of the youngsters?

He probably stayed away from the Heavens for too long. In addition, he was always ignorant and ill-informed, and never cared much about things from the outside world.

Since he couldn’t fix this, then it was still better to just forget about it. Xie Lian gave up on this issue, and as a result, stopped being gloomy as well.

However, he still had one problem left: even until now, there had been no one in the mortal realm who had built a new temple for him. No, perhaps there were, but in any case, the Heavens didn’t find any when they searched and thus there wasn’t any records of it.

It must be borne in mind that even a local earth god had some kind of shrine. But even until today, Xie Lian, someone who very solemnly ascended to become a Heavenly Official and even did it three times, didn’t have a single temple or a single believer who would consecrate incense to him. This was truly extremely awkward.

Although, only other Heavenly Officials were feeling awkward for him. Xie Lian himself still thought that things were alright. In addition, one day, he suddenly got carried away by a whim and was suddenly inspired. “If no one wants to provide me with offerings, then it should be fine if I provide offerings to myself, right?”

All the Heavenly Officials didn’t know how to respond to that.

Who the hell had heard of a Heavenly Official providing offerings to themselves?!

Being miserable to this degree as a god, what kind of feeling would be left?!

As for Xie Lian, he was long accustomed to the awkward silence whenever he spoke. He thought that amusing himself and making himself laugh could also be considered as something interesting. Thus, after making his decision, he once again jumped down to the mortal realm.

This time, when he reached the ground, his location was that of a small mountain village called Pu Qi

1 Village.

Although one said it was a mountain village, in reality, it was just a small dirt slope. Xie Lian saw that this place had elegant scenery, with green hills, clear waters and paddy fields reaching out into the horizon.

In his heart, he thought, “This time, I truly landed somewhere nice.”

Xie Lian looked around again and noticed a crooked, broken hut sitting on top of the small dirt slope. When he asked people about it, all the villagers said, “That broken hut has been abandoned and has no owner. Occasionally there are wanderers who go in there to sleep for a night. Live there if you wish.”

Wasn’t this exactly what Xie Lian had been desiring? He immediately walked towards it.

Only after walking nearer did he realize that though this little hut looked quite dilapidated from afar, it actually looked even more dilapidated up close. Two of the four pillars at the corners of the hut were already rotten and decaying away. As soon as the wind blew, the entire hut would begin to emit creaking sounds, making one doubt whether or not it would fall at all times.

However, this degree of ‘beaten up’ was still within a range Xie Lian could accept. After entering the hut and looking around, he began to start cleaning things up.

When the villagers saw this, they were all very surprised. Someone was actually going to live there? Thus, they all gathered there to enjoy watching him bustle around.

Contrary to what one would expect, the villagers here were all very enthusiastic. Not only did they gift him a broom, after seeing his filthy appearance after his cleaning, they also gifted him some newly picked water chestnuts. The skin on the water chestnuts were already peeled off and thus they were each white and tender, sweet and juicy.

Xie Lian squatted in front of his broken hut and finished eating the water chestnuts. Happily pressing his hands together, he decided right then in his heart to call this place the Pu Qi Monastery.

There originally had been a small table within the Pu Qi Monastery. After rubbing it twice, it could be used as an offering table. As Xie Lian continued to busy around, the villagers that surrounded him in order to watch realized that this youngster actually wanted to make some room to create a little Taoist monastery.

They all found this even more uncommon and strange, and thus came to ask one after another, “This temple, who are you offering it to?”

Xie Lian lightly coughed once before saying, “Ah, this monastery is for the Xian Le Crown Prince.”

Everyone was miffed, “Who is that?”

Xie Lian said, “I……I also don’t know. I think he’s a Crown Prince.”

“Oh, what does he do?”

“He is probably someone who ensures peace.” And collects rubbish on the side.

Everyone began fervently asking, “Then this Highness the Crown Prince, does he deal with ushering in wealth and prosperity?!”

Xie Lian thought in his heart, not owing money was already pretty good. Then, he said in a warm voice, “It’s regrettable, but it seems like that’s not possible.”

One after another, people started giving him suggestions. “Or offer it to the Water Master instead, that will invite wealth! The incense burning here would definitely be prosperous.”

“Or maybe you can offer it to Ling Wen ZhenJun! Who knows, maybe someone from our village will become a Zhuangyuan

2!”

A woman shyly and timidly said, “That……have you……have you considered that……”

Xie Lian maintained his smile and said, “That?”

“General Ju Yang

3.”

“……”

If he really opened a Ju Yang Monastery, he was afraid Feng Xin would immediately shoot an arrow from the Heavens to smite him!

After roughly cleaning up the Pu Qi Monastery, it was still missing some incense burners, qiantong

4 and other various things. However, Xie Lian had completely forgotten about the most important thing——the Godly statue. He carried his bamboo hat and strode out the door, oh right, there was no door either.

After thinking for a bit, Xie Lian decided that this hut definitely needed to be rebuilt. Thus, he wrote a sign and placed it at the door front. It said: “This monastery is dilapidated. Sincerely seeking benevolent people, to donate in order to renovate it. Accumulate merits and virtue.”

After leaving the hut and walking for seven or eight li

5, he arrived in a town. For what reason would he go to the town? Well, it was naturally in order to muddle about and find some food to eat. Thus, he once again took up his old profession.

In legends and folklore, it was said that immortals no longer needed to eat. In reality, this was really hard to say. Although those with almighty power really could absorb the necessary spiritual energy from sunshine and the rain and dew. But the problem was——although they could do that, if they didn’t need to, who would like to do it? Why would they want to do something like that?

But some of the Heavenly Officials required the five viscera to be clean and pure because they practiced the Buddhism path. Indeed, those people could not stand the mortal’s greasy meat and fish. If they were dirtied by those things, it would be the same as if a mortal ate raw, uncooked poisonous bugs or mud, for they would begin vomiting and having diarrhea. That being the case, it wasn’t that they didn’t eat food, they just ate things that were born in a clean and pure place, stuff that promised longevity. These were immortal fruits and spiritual animals that would increase the efficacy of spiritual energy.

However, this kind of problem didn’t exist for Xie Lian. With the curse upon him, he was no different compared to mortals, and thus could eat everything. And because he was a seasoned veteran of a hundred battles, no matter what he ate, he wouldn’t die. Whether it was a steamed bun that had been lying around for a month, or pastries that already sprouted some green mold, he would definitely be fine after eating those things. Since he had a constitution like this that defied the heavens, he actually got by alright during the period he collected scraps. In contrast: opening a monastery meant losing money, collecting rubbish meant making money, so collecting rubbish was truly better than ascending.

He looked as elegant as Chinese jade with the air of an immortal, so he had an advantage when collecting scraps. It didn’t take long before Xie Lian collected a big bag’s worth.

On his way back, he saw an old ox pulling a handcart with rice straws on it piled sky-high. Xie Lian remembered that he seemed to have seen this handcart in Pu Qi Village before, so they must be going the same way. He asked whether or not he could hitch a ride back, and the handcart owner lifted his chin, indicating he could climb up.

Thus, Xie Lian sat onto the cart with his big bag of scraps. Only after he climb on did he realize that behind tall pile of straw, there had long been someone lying there.

The upper part of this person’s body was hidden by the pile of straw. His left leg was bent at the knee and supporting his right leg, and it seemed that he was using his arms as a pillow to take a rest. He appeared extremely leisurely and contented. This person’s satisfied attitude was actually one Xie Lian rather envied. That pair of black boots were tight, fitting snugly on his slender, straight lower legs and looking rather easy on the eyes.

Xie Lian recalled what he had seen under his veil on that night on Mount Yu Jun and couldn’t help but take a few more glances at those boots. After he confirmed that there weren’t any silver chains hanging on these boots that were made from who knows what kind of animal fur, he thought to himself, “This has to be some family’s Young Master who ran out to play, right?”

The handcart sluggishly swayed about on the road. Still carrying his bamboo hat on his back, Xie Lian took out a scroll and prepared to read. In the past, he had never been that mindful of all the news that circulated in the outside world. However, because of the many awkward silences he caused, he decided that it was probably best if he did some cramming.

After the ox cart swayed for who knows how long, it passed through a forest. Xie Lian raised his head to look around in all four directions, only to see rolling green fields and splendid maples resembling fire, bringing about an eye-catching sight between the gaps of the mountains in the wilderness. Such a scene was extremely intoxicating, penetrating one’s heart with its crisp and fresh atmosphere. Xie Lian couldn’t help but stare blankly a bit.

When he was young and still cultivating within the Huang Ji Temple, Huang Ji Temple was built on a mountain. Covering the mountains and the plains were maple forests, looking as brilliant as gold and as intense as fire. This situation and this scenery made it difficult for Xie Lian to not recollect the past. He gazed into the distance for a while before he lowered his head to continue looking at his scroll.

After he opened the scroll, he saw a row of words in his first glance that said:

The Crown Prince of Xian Le, who ascended three times. A martial god, a demon personifying pestilence, a scrap god.

“……”

Xie Lian said, “Alright, if you carefully think about it, in regards to a martial god and a scrap god, there’s actually not much of a difference between the two. All gods are equal, all living things are equal.”

At this moment, a light chuckle sounded from behind him as a voice said, “Is that right?”

That teenager spoke up in a lazy tone, “People always like saying that all gods are equal, all living things are equal. But if that was truly the case, all those various immortals and gods would simply not exist.”

This voice came from behind the straw pile on the cart. Xie Lian turned around to take a look and saw that teenager was still lying there in a languid manner. He didn’t look like he wanted to get up, so he’d probably just spoken that sentence without thinking too much on it. Thus, Xie Lian replied with a smile, “What you said also makes sense.”

He turned around and continued looking at his scroll, which said:

Many people believed that as a demon representing pestilence, anything with Xian Le Crown Prince’s personal handwriting and portraits had the ability to curse people. If you pasted them onto someone’s back or perhaps some person’s family’s main entrance, it will cause misfortune upon the family or person in question.

“……”

This kind of commentary made it hard for someone to tell if they were talking about a god or a ghost.

Xie Lian shook his head, and didn’t have the heart to continue looking at the comments related to himself. He decided that it would be better if he first found out about all the heavenly officials currently present in Heaven. This way, he could avoid always being unclear who was who, which was rather lacking in manners. He recalled how the villager had just mentioned that Water Master and thus began rummaging through the scroll for comments on the Water Master. He flipped to a sentence that said:

Water Master Wudu. Wields water as well as wealth. Hence, within the stores and houses of many merchants, they would all have a statue of the Water Master to ensure their wealth and fortunes.

Xie Lian felt a bit baffled. “Since he’s a water god, then why would he also wield power over wealth and fortunes?”

At this moment, the teenager lying behind the pile of straws spoke up again, “When the caravan peddler transport goods, they must first ship it using the waterway. Thus, every time before they set off on their journey, they would go to the Water Master’s temple and burn a tall incense candle. They would pray to have a good journey, and promise to do this and that once they return. Because it has long been this way, the Water Master also began to gradually wield power over both wealth and fortune.”

He was actually specifically clearing his confusion. Xie Lian turned around and said, “Is that the case? Interesting. Presumably, this Water Master is an awfully powerful big Heavenly Official.”

That teenager sneered and said, “Yeah, Water Tyrannizing the Skies.”

This tone of his made it seem like he didn’t particularly care much for this Heavenly Official. It also didn’t look like he was saying anything nice. Xie Lian asked, “What is ‘water tyrannizing the skies’?”

That teenager leisurely said, “When a boat passes through a big river, whether it moves or stays all depends on his one word. If one doesn’t make offerings to him, their boat would just flip, pretty tyrannical. That is why he got gifted with a nickname, which is precisely ‘Water Tyrannizing the Skies’. It has more or less the same idea as Ju Yang, ‘Tremendously Masculine’ General and ‘Floor-Sweeping’ General.”

For the famous Heavenly Officials with resounding titles, they usually all had some nicknames in the mortal realm and heaven. Things similar to Xie Lian’s Laughingstock of Three Realms, Famous Weirdo, Bearer of Ill Luck, Stray Dog, cough cough, and so on. Usually, using a nickname to address a heavenly official was something extremely lacking in manners. For example, if someone dared to call Mu Qing ‘Floor-Sweeping General’ in front of his face, Mu Qing would certainly become extremely angry. Xie Lian noted down that he couldn’t use that nickname before saying, “This friend, you are very young, but it turns out there’s quite a lot of things you know.”

That teenager said, “I don’t know much. Just idle. When I have free time, I would take a look, that’s all.”

In the mortal realm, one could find a great deal of pamphlets about mythology wherever you looked, all talking about the stories of these gods and ghosts. Those stories ranged from major ones about kindness and enmity, to small trifling matters. Some stories were fake, and some were true. Thus, though this teenager knew quite a lot, it couldn’t be considered too strange. Xie Lian set down his scroll and said, “Then, this friend, you know a lot about gods. However, do you also know about ghosts?”

That teenager asked, “Which ghost?”

Xie Lian said, “Blood Rain Reaching Toward a Flower, Hua Cheng.”

When he heard that, the teenager lowly chuckled twice before he finally sat up. When he turned around, Xie Lian’s gaze suddenly alighted.

He saw that this teenager was around sixteen or seventeen years old. The red of his clothes surpassed the maples, and his skin was white like snow. Those pair of eyes were shining like stars, containing a smile as he glances askance at him. The teenager was exceptionally handsome; however, his expression ineffably contained a hint of wildness. His black hair was loosely tied up, and was even tied slightly askew. It looked exceedingly casual, like he did whatever he wished.

The two of them were currently passing through the fiery and splendidly colourful maple forest. The maple leaves danced as they fell, one by one, and there was even a leaf that fell onto the teenager’s shoulders. The teenager lightly blew at it, making the leaf fall, and only then did he raise his head to look at him. With a smile that didn’t quite look like a smile, he said, “What do you wish to know? Don’t hesitate to ask.”


	14. Clothes Redder Than Maple, Skin as White as Snow Pt.1

His face had an expression of ridicule, yet he held an inexplicable, omniscient composure. Although he had the voice of a teenager, it was slightly deeper compared to other boys his age and was extremely pleasant to hear. Xie Lian sat upright on the ox cart, still, with serious concentration. He pondered for a moment before saying, “Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower, this scene sounds rather impressive. Friend, would you be able to tell me how it came to be?”

As a show of respect, Xie Lian decided best not to add the ‘young’ word in front of ‘friend’

1\. The teen sat casually, with his arm propped on a raised knee. He tidied the cuffs on his sleeves before nonchalantly saying, “The backstory isn’t that impressive. It’s only because Hua Cheng had once eradicated another ghost’s nest, and just as he was done, it started raining blood all over the mountain. When he left, he saw a flower on the side of the road beaten rather pitifully by the blood rain, so he tipped his umbrella and provided it with cover for a bit.”

Xie Lian imagined the scene and only felt that amidst the blood rain and wind, there was some elegance and sentiment deeply entwined. He recalled again, the legend of how the ghost clad in red had set fire to thirty-three temples, before he said with a laugh, “Does Hua Cheng frequently pick fights everywhere he goes?”

That teen replied, “Wouldn’t say frequently, I guess it depends on his mood.”

Xie Lian asked, “What kind of a person was he like before he died?”

The young man replied, “He definitely couldn’t have been a good person.”

Xie Lian asked, “What does he look like?”

The moment this question was asked, the teen lifted his eyes to peer at him. He cocked his head from side to side before he stood up to walk over to Xie Lian, then sat back down beside him. The teen replied with a question himself, “What do you think? How ought he look like?”

Upon looking at him much more closely, Xie Lian felt that this teen was even more striking up close. In addition, it was the kind of handsome that brought about a faint sense of being attacked, much like an unsheathed sharp sword. It was an image so dazzling one couldn’t look at it directly; causing people to not dare look him straight in the eye.

Their gaze had only briefly met, and already Xie Lian couldn’t take it anymore. After slightly inclining his head to the side, he said, “Being such a renowned Demon Lord, it can be assumed that he shape-shifts a lot, so he must have many appearances.”

When he saw how he turned his head, the teen raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s right. But sometimes he still uses his real appearance. The appearance we’re talking about is naturally his original self.”

Xie Lian was unsure if he was sensing wrong, but he felt as if the distance between the two of them had grown further apart. Thus, he once again turned his head back before saying, “Then I feel like his original self could definitely be a teenager like you.”

Hearing this, the teenager’s mouth curved upwards before he said, “Why?”

Xie Lian said, “Not ‘why’, since you can say whatever, then I can think whatever. Everything can just be whatever we please.”

That teen chuckled twice before saying, “Perhaps……Although, he’s blind in one eye.”

He tapped the spot under his right eye and said, “This one.”

That statement wasn’t unheard of. Previously, Xie Lian had also somewhat heard about this. Within certain versions of the legends, Hua Cheng wore a black eye-patch over his right eye, covering the eye he had lost. Xie Lian said, “Then, do you know what the matter is with that eye of his?”

The teen replied, “Nhn, this question, a lot of people want to figure it out too.”

When other people wanted to know what had made Hua Cheng lose his right eye, they were in fact just wanting to know what his weakness was. But with Xie Lian asking this, he purely just wanted to know. Xie Lian hadn’t spoken his next words before the teenager said, “He dug it out himself.”

Startled, Xie Lian asked, “Why?”

The teen replied, “He went mad.”

…..After going insane, he would even dig out his own eye. Xie Lian’s curiosity toward this Blood Rain Reaching Towards a Flower, the Ghost King clad in red, continued to increase. He reckoned it couldn’t be as simple as having gone crazy, but since the teenager already said it like this, presumably there wouldn’t be a more detailed explanation. Xie Lian continued to ask, “Then, does Hua Cheng have a weakness?”

Xie Lian wasn’t expecting an answer from the boy for this question, but he thought he’d ask it anyways for what it was worth. If Hua Cheng’s weakness could be so easily discovered by another, then the subject in question wouldn’t be Hua Cheng. However, who knew, the teen would reply without hesitation, “His ashes.”

If one could obtain the ashes of a ghost, then they would have the power to command the ghost. If the ghost did not comply with their orders, one could destroy their ashes, which would extinguish their form and have their soul shattered and scattered. This was common knowledge. However, when it came to Hua Cheng, even this common knowledge wouldn’t pose much significance. Xie Lian laughed and said, “I’m afraid no one would be able to obtain his ashes. Thus, this weakness is equivalent to not having one.”

And yet the teen responded, “Not necessarily. There is one kind of situation where the ghost would take the initiative to give away his ashes.”

Xie Lian said, “Like how he had challenged those thirty-three Heavenly Officials to a match, betting his own ashes as stake?”

Scoffing, the teen said, “Not possible.”

Although he didn’t say it fully, Xie Lian was still able to hear it the meaning behind his words. He had probably meant ‘How could Hua Cheng lose?’. The teenager continued, “There’s a tradition in the Ghost Realm. In the case where a ghost has chosen their person, they would entrust their ashes into that person’s hands.”

In reality, that would be the same as handing over one’s own life into another person’s hands. For such dedication, what sort of touching story that captured one’s imagination would this be? Engrossed on the subject, Xie Lian said, “So it turns out that the Ghost realm would have such a sentimental custom.”

The teenager said, “They do. But not many ghosts would dare do it.”

Xie Lian thought that was the case. If there were demons in this world who would scam or entice the hearts of people, then there would also be humans who would fool demons. There would exist much ongoing exploitation and betrayal. He said, “If it was handed over in infatuation, yet only results in broken bones and scattered ashes, it would indeed render one’s heart to feel aggrieved.”

However, that teenager laughed before saying, “What is there to be afraid of? If it were me, after giving away my ashes, I wouldn’t care if that person wished to break bones, scatter ashes or just toss it for fun.”

Xie Lian smiled before he suddenly remembered that despite how the two of them had chatted for so long, he still hadn’t learned the other boy’s name. He said, “This friend, how should I address you?”

The teen raised a hand to place it over his eyebrow, covering his eyes from the afterglow of the red-wine coloured setting sun. He squinted his eyes, making it seem as if he wasn’t too fond of the sunlight. He said, “Me? In my family, I’m ranked third. Everyone calls me San Lang

2.”

He didn’t take the initiative to tell him his actual name, so Xie Lian didn’t continue to ask. He responded, “My family name is Xie, and my given name is the single character Lian. Seeing as you’re headed in this direction, are you also going to Pu Qi Village?”

San Lang leaned back against the pile of hay. He tucked both of his hands under his head as a pillow and crossed his legs before saying, “I don’t know. I randomly chose the way.”

There seemed to be an inside story to what he had said. Xie Lian said, “What’s the matter?”

San Lang heaved a sigh before casually saying, “There was quarrelling at home, and I got driven out. I walked for some time but there was nowhere to go. Today, I got so hungry I nearly fainted at the end of the main street, and only then did I randomly find a place to lie down.”

While this boy’s clothes appeared to be quite casual, the quality was of excellent material. In addition, with his refined way of speech and how he seemed to be very idle, having the time to read this and that, ever the all-knowing, Xie Lian had long suspected that he was some rich family’s young master who had come out to play. A pampered young boy who had wandered outside alone for so long must have inevitably come across many hardships along the road. This was something Xie Lian could deeply relate to. Hearing he was hungry, Xie Lian began rummaging through his satchel, but could only produce a single steamed bun. When he realized that this bun had not yet stiffened, he internally rejoiced before he said to the teen, “Do you want to eat it?”

The teenager nodded, so Xie Lian gave him the steamed bun. San Lang looked at him and asked, “You don’t have any more?”

Xie Lian said, “I’m okay, I’m not that hungry.”

San Lang pushed the steamed bun back to him and said, “I’m also okay too.”

Upon seeing this, Xie Lian took back the steamed bun and broke it, dividing it into two halves. Then, he once again gave the teenager one half and said, “Then you take half, and I’ll take half.”

Only then did the boy take the steamed bun, nibbling on it with him as they sat side by side. Seeing how he sat by his side and took a bite of that bun while looking ineffably a bit well-behaved, Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel as though he had wronged him somewhere.

The ox cart moved up and down along the bumpy mountain road, being slowly pulled along as the sun began gradually setting in the west. The two of them sat on the cart and continuously chatted. The more they talked, the more Xie Lian felt how peculiar this boy was. Despite his young age, his every word and action had an air about him. He was always undisturbed, as though between the vast expense of heaven and earth, there was nothing in this world that he wouldn’t know or could ever confound him. It made Xie Lian believe he understood a lot, and was quite mature despite being so young. And yet, sometimes, he would also reveal the enthusiasm belonging to that of a youth. When Xie Lian said he was the master of Pu Qi Monastery, the teenager said, “Pu Qi Monastery? It sounds like there’d be a lot of water chestnuts to eat, I like it. For whom is the Monastery devoted to?”

After once again being asked this headache-inducing question, Xie Lian lightly coughed and said. “Xian Le’s Crown Prince. You probably don’t know about him.”

A lazy smile appeared on the teenager’s face, but before he could respond, the ox cart suddenly jolted in a sudden quake.

The two of them swayed two and fro. Xie Lian was worried the boy might fall off and reached out to grab a hold of him. But who knew, the moment he touched San Lang, that teenager acted as if he was scorched by something hot and forcefully shook off his hand.

Even though his expression shifted only slightly, Xie Lian still perceived it. He thought to himself, perhaps this boy actually really hated him? Yet during this ride, it was clear they had fun conversing. However, right now, there wasn’t time to think further on the topic. Standing up, he asked, “What’s happening?”

The old man driving the ox cart said, “I don’t know what’s going on either! Old Huang, why have you stopped moving? Come on, move!”

At this time, the sun had already set with twilight approaching. Yet the ox cart was still within the mountain’s forest; where it looked gloomy and dark all around. The old ox stubbornly stood in its spot, refusing to move and being temperamental. All the urging the old man did was rendered useless with the ox, for it acted as if it wanted to bury its own head into the ground. Its tail vigorously swished around like a whip as it continued to persistently moo. Xie Lian perceived that something was off and was just about to leap off the cart, when suddenly, that old man pointed at something up ahead and started yelling.

Xie Lian turned, only to see at the front of the mountain road, many clusters of green flames in the east and the west that were burning faintly. A group of people clothed in white were holding their heads as they slowly walked toward them.

Seeing this, Xie Lian immediately uttered, “Protect!”

Ruoye broke away from his wrist before circling the ox cart once, creating a ring floating in mid-air that protected the three of them and the animal. Xie Lian turned his head and said, “What day is today?”

The old man had yet to reply when the teenager behind him said, “The Ghost Festival.”

Halfway through the seventh month, the Ghost Door opens. He hadn’t looked at the date when he left, but today just happened to be the Ghost Festival!

Xie Lian lowered his voice and said, “Don’t randomly walk about. We’ve bumped into evil today. If we walked down the wrong path, we won’t be able to return.”


	15. Clothes Redder Than Maple, Skin as White as Snow Pt.2

The crowd of white-clothed people had no heads atop their necks, wearing only prison garments as each one of them carried a single skull. They seemed to be a group of beheaded convicts, slowly making their way towards the ox cart while the heads within the crooks of their arms chattered ceaselessly.

Xie Lian lowered his voice and said to the other two, “In a moment, when they come close, do not make any noise.”

San Lang tilted his head to the side and asked, “It would seem that gege

1, you are a person of extraordinary talent and a master of strange things.”

With him sounding so intrigued, Xie Lian replied, “I wouldn’t say a person of extraordinary talent and master of strange things. I only know a bit. They can’t see us right now, but in a moment when they get closer, it’ll be harder to say.”

Upon seeing the white silk shoot through the air on its own, the old cart driver was dumbstruck. In addition with how he was seeing headless people on top of that, he was about to keel over with fright. He shook his head with great alarm, “No, no, no, I can’t! I won’t be able to keep silent! Dao Zhang

2, what do I do?!”

“……..” Xie Lian replied, “Well, there is another way. Forgive me.” Having said that, he swiftly tapped

3 the man on the back. The old man immediately collapsed on the cart, knocked out. Xie Lian gently caught and arranged him into a sleeping position, then sat down onto the driver’s seat himself.

Suddenly, he felt movement behind him. Turning his head around to look, Xie Lian saw that the young man had followed suit and had sat down behind him as well, so he asked, “Are you alright?”

San Lang propped up his chin with a hand. “Of course not. I’m scared.”

Even though there wasn’t even half an ounce of fear in his voice, Xie Lian still comforted him, “There’s no need to be scared. If you stay behind me, there will be nothing that can hurt you.”

The teen smiled, and kept silent. Xie Lian suddenly noticed that he was staring at him. More specifically, he was staring at the cursed collar on his neck.

This cursed collar appeared as a black necklace around his neck. It was almost impossible to hide and would easily induce others into making bad assumptions regarding it. Xie Lian gently tugged at his collar even though it wouldn’t hide anything.

With the darkening sky, he couldn’t see the young man’s expression anymore. Xie Lian took up the reins and tried to quietly urge the ox forward. The crowd of ghosts dressed in prisoner’s clothes approached, wanting to pass, before they realized that there was something in the middle of the road blocking their way.

“That’s strange! Why can’t we pass?”

“For real?! It’s blocked? What the hell! Is this the work of some ghost?!”

“F*ck, aren’t we the ghosts ourselves? So how does that work?”

Xie Lian finally got the ox to move, and had just pushed passed these headless ghost convicts. He found it all rather funny as he listened to them bickering while holding their heads. The crowd of ghosts still had much to complain about.

“Hey, aren’t you mistaken? Why does it feel like the one holding your head is my body?”

“Must be your body that grabbed the wrong head!”

“Guys, hurry up and switch back….”

“Why is the cut wound for your head so ragged?”

Sighing, the ghost said, “Hah~ My executioner was a newbie. It took them five or six attempts to chop off my head. I was even starting to suspect they were doing it on purpose.”

“Your family didn’t offer them money, right? Next time, remember to bribe them beforehand for a quick and clean chop!”

“Next time my ass!”

On the fifteenth day of the seventh month

4, the Ghost Festival, was the ghost realm’s largest and most celebrated holiday. On this day, the gates of the ghost realm would open, allowing the ghosts who usually lurked in the shadows to freely surge forth and celebrate unrestrained. The living should retreat, especially on this night, and the best course of action would be to firmly shut one’s door and stay put at home. If one did come out, the chances of encountering something unpleasant would be much higher than usual.

Xie Lian, a person dogged by misfortune, was someone who would even run head on into ghosts while wearing his Taoist robes

5; in fact, this had just happened. Their surroundings were full of floating green ghost fire, along with a host of deceased spirits chasing after the wavering flames. Some dressed in their burial clothes were expressionlessly murmuring to themselves, all kneeling in front of a circle as they reached out to receive the paper money, silver and gold ingots their descendants had burned for them.

This scene could be described as a riotous revelry of the dead. Xie Lian weaved through the middle, thinking that from today onwards, he must remember to check the calendar before traveling, when a shrill sound similar to that of a dying chicken cried out.

“This is bad! This is bad! Ghosts are getting murdered!”

The warning sent the crowd of ghosts into a frenzy. “Where? Where? Where’s the murder?”

The ghost who had first cried out said, “It scared me to death! I was over there when I discovered many scattered ghost fires; they were all brutally shredded! It’s so cruel!”

“All shredded? This is dismemberment! Absolutely atrocious!”

“Who did it? It can’t be that….there are enchantment masters

6 or monks hidden amongst us?!”

The headless convicts from before also shouted, “Ah! Now that you mention it, earlier on the road, there was also something blocking us so that we couldn’t pass. It couldn’t have been…..”

“Where, where?”

“Right over there!”

Xie Lian internally yelled ‘this isn’t good’. In a flash, a swarm of ghosts and ghouls encircled the ox cart, each one revealing their fierce faces, full of malicious intent. “I smell the heated scents of yang

7 energy……”

They couldn’t hide anymore!

During the ghost festival, it would be considered unreasonable on the mortal’s front for a living mortal to bump into the dead

8\. Xie Lian had no intention of starting a fight with all of these ghosts, so he could only hurry the cart along. “Go!”

The ox was already incredibly spooked. It shifted uneasily in its place while pawing at the ground with its hoof, so upon hearing his command, it impatiently bolted off. Xie Lian didn’t forget to grab ahold of the teen behind him. “Hold on!”

Recovering Ruoye while conveniently beating open an escape path, they charged out of the encirclement, illuminated by the ring of ghost fire. The ghost missing an arm and a leg was enraged and shrieked, “There really was a Dao Shi

9!!! This damned Dao Shi must be too impatient to die!!!”

“Since the living dare come disturb our Ghost Festival, then they can’t blame us if anything happens!”

“After them!”

Xie Lian grabbed the reins with one hand and used the other to pull out a handful of talismans. Throwing them towards the ground, he shouted, “Hinder!”

What aided in their escape was the ‘Hinder Talisman’. A series of consecutive booming noises sounded, where each one would send an obstacle towards the ghosts, hindering their movements but only for a short while. However, although it was only for a short period of time, with the use of this many talismans, it would take about half an incense stick worth of time before the ghosts could catch up. Like he had fire burning up his ass, Xie Lian drove the cart and escaped for a stretch of the mountain road, before suddenly saying, “Stop——-!”

As it turns out, the old ox had pulled the cart to a fork in the road, and upon seeing that there were two dark mountain routes ahead, Xie Lian immediately pulled on the reins.

This was where they needed to be exceedingly cautious!

On the day of the ghost festival, sometimes mortals would find themselves walking along a road only to suddenly encounter another path that hadn’t existed before. This kind of path was not meant to be walked by mortals. Once one took the wrong path and entered the ghost’s realm, it would prove to be rather difficult and unlikely should they wish to return!

Xie Lian was a newcomer, and was unsure of which mountain path to take. He then remembered what he’d bought in town. Besides the large bag of collected scraps, amongst the miscellaneous items that he had bought, there was a cylinder container of fortune telling sticks. He decided to draw sticks to pick a path, so he dug out the container, held it in his hand and shook it while praying, “Heavenly Officials bestow your blessings on me! Lead me onto the right path! The first stick for left, the second for right! Whichever path has a better fortune is the one I’ll take!” After saying this, two sticks clattered into his hand, but, looking at the results, Xie Lian had no words.

Ill-fated tokens; great misfortune

10!

Both sticks were ill-fated, both roads were unlucky. Didn’t that mean that whichever road they took would lead to death?

Feeling helpless, Xie Lian gripped the container with two hands, and shook it vigorously. “Container oh container, we’ve only just met today, so don’t be so heartless! I’m going to try again so won’t you save me some face?” As he finished saying this, the clacking sounds of two more sticks fell out. Again, they were both bad luck!

At this time, the San Lang who was next to him, suddenly said, “Let me give it a try?”

It wasn’t like he could get anything worse than him, so Xie Lian passed it over. San Lang took it with one hand and casually shook it. Out dropped two sticks. He picked them up and handed them over without even glancing at the results. Xie Lian took them and saw that they were both good fortune sticks, he couldn’t help but be amazed. Due to his immense bad luck, it tended to also negatively affect the luck of the people around him. He wasn’t sure if this was actually true, but often enough, the complaints he’d receive would always say so. Nevertheless, this young man wasn’t affected at all, and he even got two rounds of good fortune!

Since both tokens were fortunate, he carelessly selected one. As the cart bumped and swayed along, Xie Lian exclaimed in admiration, “My friend, your luck is not too shabby.”

San Lang tossed the fortune telling container back, and said with a smile, “Really? I also think my luck is not too shabby. It has always been so.”

Hearing him say “it has always been so”, Xie Lian thought that the difference between two people couldn’t be more different than heaven and earth.

Out of nowhere, they again heard the wails of the ghosts, “We’ve found them! They’re here!”

“Everyone over here! That damned Dao Shi is here!!!”

As ghost heads appeared one by one, Xie Lian remarked, “Ah, it seems we still picked the wrong path.”

The effects of the ‘Hinder Talisman’ long expired, so they were once again surrounded!

The mob of ghosts and ghouls had to be at least a hundred or so in members. They barricaded them in and this barrier was several layers thick, with their numbers continuously increasing. He wasn’t sure why there would be so many inhumane creatures gathered here, but there was no time to be thinking about that now. Xie Lian gently said, “Those that I’ve offended through my actions, I humbly ask for your generosity and forgiveness.”

A headless ghost spat, “Ha! Rotten Dao Shi, you should have been generous first! Back over there, weren’t you people the ones who dispersed the ghost fires?”

Xie Lian innocently said, “Truth be told, it wasn’t us. I am but a mere scrap collector.”

“Stop lying already! How can you be a scrap collector? You’re clearly a Dao Shi! And besides you, is there another Dao Shi around who would do such a thing?!”

“Dao Shi aren’t the only ones who can disperse ghost fires,” Xie Lian said in reply.

“Then what else could it have been? A ghost?”

Xie Lian quietly slipped his hand into his sleeve. “It’s not impossible.”

“Hahahahahahaha, damned Dao Shi! You……you…..you…”

The ghost who had emitted laughter loud enough to shake the heavens suddenly stammered, unable to continue. Xie Lian prompted, “What about me….?”

Just as he asked, the ghosts seemed to have lost all ability for speech, and even the stammering stopped. They gawked at Xie Lian, either with dropped jaws or tightly sealed lips, as if they had seen something profoundly terrifying. Many of the headless prisoner ghosts had been scared to the point of dropping their heads.

Xie Lian asked in a probing manner, “You guys……?”

Unexpectedly, before he’d even finished asking, the crowd of ghosts dispersed like flustered birds fleeing in all directions, as though a whirlwind had hurtled through scattered clouds.

“No way???” Xie Lian said, stunned.

He hadn’t even pulled out the handful of talismans he was holding, hidden in his sleeve. Could they have discovered the talismans? Were they that astute? Besides, the talismans weren’t even that powerful. Xie Lian was thoroughly perplexed. What were they frightened by? Was it really him?

Or was it something behind him?

With that in mind, he turned around to see what was behind him.

There was only the passed-out cart owner behind him, as well as that teen in red, still sitting leisurely with his chin propped by his hand.

Seeing him looking back, San Lang faintly smiled again. He set down his hand and said, “Dao Zhang is so valiant and formidable, those ghosts were all scared away by you.”

“……”

Xie Lian also smiled back. “Is that so? I have never realized I could be this formidable.”

After that, he tugged on the reins a few times and the cart’s wheels began to roll once more. The rest of the journey was smooth sailing. In less than an hour, the ox cart slowly crawled out of the forest, onto a wide and even path in the hills. Pu Ji Village rested at the base of the slope, warm and glowing.

It was indeed a ‘good fortune’ path, equipped with surprises, but no danger.

The night wind blew past as Xie Lian looked back again. San Lang seemed to be in a particularly good mood. He laid down and adjusted his arms to cushion his head within his hands as he observed the turn of the moon. Under the soft moonlight, that young man’s appearance looked almost surreal.

After a moment of hesitation, Xie Lian burst into a smile and called out, “My friend.”

“What?” San Lang asked.

“Have you had your fortune told before?”

San Lang turned his head. “No, I haven’t.”

“Then,” Xie Lian asked, “do you want me to tell yours?”

While looking at him, San Lang smiled and said, “You want to tell my fortune?”

“Yeah……a little,” he admitted.

San Lan lightly nodded, “Alright.”

He sat up, slightly inclining his body towards Xie Lian. “How are you going to do it?”

Xie Lian replied, “Palm reading. Is that alright?”

Hearing his answer, San Lang’s lips curved upwards in a smile, the meaning behind it indiscernible. “Sure,” he agreed, reaching out his left hand.

The fingers on his left hand were long and slender with defined knuckles, quite beautiful to look at. It wasn’t beautiful in a fragile sense, but attractive in the way of hidden strength. No one would wish to have these pair of hands choking them to death. Xie Lian remembered the way San Lang had reacted to his touch from before, and made a mental note not to make any direct contact with his person. Thus, he did not directly touch his hand but only looked downwards in observation.

The white moonlight was neither dim nor bright. Xie Lian examined the hand for some time, the ox cart slowly making its way through the mountain road with the wheels and the wooden shafts creaking. San Lang asked, “How is it?”

After a short pause, Xie Lian slowly replied, “You have a very good life.”

San Lang said, “Oh? In which way is it good?”

Xie Lian raised his head, softly saying, “You are tenacious, extremely dedicated, and despite many bitter encounters with frustrations and dashed hopes, you’ve stayed true to your heart. More often than not, your misfortunes will turn into blessings, calamity to prosperity. You will continue to have good fortune, my friend, your future is radiant and will blossom spectacularly.”

All the things he said were made up on the spot, so they were complete nonsense. Xie Lian didn’t know how to read palms. Previously, when he had fallen, there was a period of time when he’d frequently regretted not learning palmistry and physiognomy from the Ministers in the palace. If he had, then he wouldn’t have had to compete with the other street entertainers like those who smashed rocks onto their bare chests during the times where he was fighting to survive in the mortal realm.

The only reason why he had asked to see San Lang’s palm, wasn’t to tell his fate, rather, it was to confirm if he had palm lines and fingerprints.

Common ghosts could create a flesh body to pose as a human, but the finer details on the human body, like palm lines, fingerprints, and hair ends, couldn’t be replicated to that extent of detail. And yet, the young man’s body not only had no signs of enchantment, there were no further clues that could be detected. In addition, his palm lines were also very distinct.

If he was a ghost or ghoul in disguise, then he would have to be at least ‘Wrath’ ranked to have been able to create such a flawless disguise. But if they were a ghost king of that caliber, why would they choose to come ride an ox cart with him on a little mountain village to kill time? Just like how the Heavenly Officials in heaven were occupied with so many important matters and were slammed with work day after day without rest to the point it could be said their feet never touched the ground with how much they ran about; the Ghost Kings would be just as busy!

Xie Lian pretended to be very confident and sure with his lies, forcing himself to continue with more, until he finally couldn’t bullsh*t anymore. For the entire duration, San Lang steadily watched him, listening to all his rubbish while quietly laughing. His laughter was enough to make one wonder.

“Anything else? Hm?” San Lang asked.

Xie Lian dreaded the thought of having to continue his bullsh*t. “Is there anything else you want me to read?”

San Lang replied, “Since it’s fortune telling, shouldn’t you tell me about my predestined soulmate?”

Xie Lian coughed lightly, and solemnly said, “My knowledge is limited, I don’t know how to read about fated soulmates. But in my opinion, you have no need for worry.”

San Lang raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think I have no need to worry about this?”

Xie Lian smiled. “Surely there must be many girls who like you.”

San Lan replied, “Then, why do you think there must be many girls who would like me?”

Xie Lian was about to go with the flow of the conversation and answer, when he suddenly realized. This kiddo was scheming to get Xie Lian to willingly compliment him. Xie Lian felt rather helpless, yet found it pretty funny. Unsure of what to say, he pinched his brow, before he uttered in a defeated tone, “San Lang–ah.”

This was the first time Xie Lian had called him by the name San Lang. When the young man heard it, he laughed aloud and finally stopped teasing him. At this moment, the ox, panting for breath, pulled into the village. Turning around, Xie Lian supported himself and quickly got off the cart. San Lang also jumped off as well. As Xie Lian lifted his head, he realized that earlier, San Lang had been lazily reclining on the cart the entire ride. But now, standing next to him, he noticed that the young man was actually much taller than him, and their line of sight wasn’t even close to being even. San Lang stood in front of the cart and stretched.

Xie Lian asked, “San Lang, which way will you be heading?”

San Lang sighed, “I don’t know. I’ll probably sleep on the streets, or I’ll find some mountain cave and make do.”

Xie Lian replied. “That won’t do.”

San Lang stretched his arms. “There’s nothing else I can do, and I have nowhere to go.” He glanced over and laughed again. “Thanks for telling my fortune. I humbly receive the blessings you’ve told me and hope it may come true. May we meet again.”

Hearing him bring up his fortune-telling, Xie Lian’s face reddened with shame. When San Lang turned to leave, Xie Lian hurriedly said, “Wait, if you don’t mind, would you like to come stay at my monastery?”

San Lang’s footsteps halted as he half-turned his body. “May I?”

Xie Lian said, “That house wasn’t originally mine to begin with. I’ve also heard that previously, passerbys would use it as shelter for the night. It’s just that, the state of it might be worse than you could imagine, so you might not be able to stand it.”

If this teen was really a rich young master who had ran away from home, he couldn’t just leave him be, unsupervised. Xie Lian felt rather skeptical on how he only ate half a bun for the duration of the entire day. If young people took advantage on their good health like this, sooner or later they would surely end up passed out on the streets. Listening to him talk, San Lang turned around without answering and walked up in front of him before leaning forward. Xie Lian still hadn’t figured out what he wanted and only felt that the distance between the two of them had shrunk. He was a little overwhelmed, unable to do anything to ward him off.

Then, that young man took a few steps back, revealing that he had only taken the large bag of scraps that Xie Lian had been carrying on his back.

“Well then, let’s go,” he said.


	16. Clothes Redder Than Maple, Skin as White as Snow Pt.3

Xie Lian was startled to find that the young man, although slim and slender, helped him carry his enormous bag of scraps with calm and collected ease. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. San Lang strode forward, already steps ahead of him. Xie Lian made to follow, but suddenly remembered that the old cart driver was still lying unconscious in the cart. He doubled back and tapped him back to consciousness, and repeatedly warned him to not speak of anything that had happened tonight to anyone. Having witnessed his abilities, how could the old man dare to disagree with him? Vigourously nodding his head, he said he wouldn’t dream of it. The old man then pulled on the reins of Old Huang and hurried home.

What was left on the cart now was a rolled up bamboo mat, which Xie Lian carried on his back. When he looked back again, San Lang was already making his way leisurely up the hill, single-handedly holding the bag of scraps that was slung over his shoulder..

Upon arrival, they stood in front of the crookedly sitting Pu Qi Monastery. San Lang dipped his head in a fit of laughter, as though he had seen something amusing. As Xie Lian approached, he found that he was looking at the ‘decrepit house, please donate’ sign. He coughed lightly and said, “See? This is it, and why I said you might not be used to this. ”

San Lang replied, “This is quite alright.”

Previously, it had always been Xie Lian telling other people ‘it’s alright, it’s okay’. Today was the first time he heard those words spoken back to him, leaving him with an indescribable feeling. Pu Qi Monastery’s original door had long rotted, so Xie Lian took it down and replaced it with a curtain. Lifting a corner, he stepped forward and said, “Come in.”

San Lang followed close behind and entered.

The furnishings in this little wooden house could be taken in with a single glance. There was only a long, rectangular offering table, two small wooden stools, a small praying mat

1, and a donation box. Taking the things San Lang had been holding, Xie Lian began unloading the things he bought: the fortune telling container, an incense burner, a calligraphy brush, paper and other miscellaneous items, before putting them in their appropriate places on the offering table. Lighting up a red candle that someone had offhandedly tossed him while he was collecting scraps, the room became immediately illuminated in light. San Lang casually picked up the fortune telling container and shook it before placing it down.

He asked, “So, is there a bed?”

Xie Lian turned around. He wordlessly set down the the bamboo mat he had been carrying on his back and then showed it to him.

San Lang raised an eyebrow. “Is there only one?”

Xie Lian had only run into the young man when he was on his way back from the town, so naturally he hadn’t thought to buy another mat. “If you don’t mind squishing with me tonight, we can share?” He suggested.

San Lang said, “That works.”

Xie Lian took the broom and swept the floor again while San Lang wandered around the monastery. “Dao Zhang gege, aren’t you missing something in this temple of yours?”

Xie Lian had finished sweeping and was crouching down on the floor so he could lay out the bamboo mat. Hearing this, he asked as he spread the mat out, “I think besides followers, there shouldn’t be anything else that’s lacking.”

San Lang also crouched down, one hand supporting his chin as he asked, “What about the imagery of the god

2?”

It was only because of his reminder did Xie Lian abruptly remember that he had actually forgotten the most important item– the god’s image!

A monastery without the god’s image would not be a monastery at all. Although he himself was the god here, he couldn’t be expected to sit on the offering table everyday. .

After mulling it over, Xie Lian found the solution, “Earlier, I had purchased a calligraphy brush and some paper. I’ll draw a portrait to hang up tomorrow.”

To draw a portrait of himself, by himself, for himself to hang in his own temple, if word of this was to spread to Heaven, he reckoned he would probably be made fun of for another decade or so. But to have an accurate statue carved, would waste precious resources and time. So, between that and being ridiculed, Xie Lian would rather be made fun of for ten years instead.

Unexpectedly, San Lang spoke up. “Drawing? I know how, want some help?”

Startled, Xie Lian laughed and said, “Then I must first thank you. But, I’m afraid you might not know how to draw the Crown Prince of Xian Le? After all, almost all of his statues and portraits had been burnt eight hundred years ago. Regardless of the few that still remain, not many people would have seen them.”

Yet San Lang replied, “Of course I know. When we were sitting on the cart earlier, didn’t we bring up His Highness the Crown Prince?

Xie Lian did recall such an event. Indeed, while on the road here, he had said “you’ve probably not heard of him”, but San Lang had not replied. Now, hearing him say this, it was a bit surprising. Xie Lian finished spreading the mat. Straightening up, he said, “Could it be that San Lang, you really know of him?”

San Lang sat on top of the mat. “I do.”

This young man’s appearance and tone while speaking were both quite interesting. He often smiled, but it was hard to tell whether those smiles were genuine and sincere or in mockery of the other party’s intellectual disability. Throughout their journey on the road, Xie Lian had listened to him talk on everything under the sun, so he was rather interested in knowing the other’s appraisal. He seated himself next to the teen and asked, “Towards this Crown Prince of Xian Le, San Lang, what are your thoughts about him?”

The two of them sat face to face under the flickering flame of the red candles. With San Lang’s back towards the light, his black eyes were cast in the shadows, rendering his facial expression to be indiscernible. After a short while, he replied, “I think, Jun Wu must have really disliked him.”

Xie Lian didn’t think it would be this kind of an answer. A bit taken aback, he inquired, “Why do you think so?”

San Lang replied, “Why else would he be thrown twice from the heavens?”

Hearing this, Xie Lian smiled faintly, thinking, “Indeed the reasoning of youth.”

He lowered his head, slowly unfastening his sash while saying, “This, and whether to like or hate has nothing to do with one another. In this world, there are many matters to which one can’t simply explain it with just a ‘like’ or ‘dislike’.”

San Lang said, “Oh.”

Xie Lian spun around, tugging off his white boots before speaking again, “Besides, if one did something wrong, then one must be punished for it; the Heavenly Emperor was only carrying out his duty both times.”

With a noncommittal regard, San Lang said, “Perhaps.”

On his end, Xie Lian took off his outer clothes and neatly stacked the folded clothing, readying to place them on the offerings table. Xie Lian had wanted to speak more on the topic, when he turned his head and discovered how San Lang’s gaze was locked onto his foot.

That gaze looked bizarre. It could be described as ice-cold, yet it could also be described as scaldingly-piercing. It could be said as burning hot, yet it also emitted cool intent. Xie Lian tilted his head down to look and immediately understood. The young man was looking at the black, cursed manacle wrapped around his right ankle.

The first cursed manacle was firmly wrapped around his neck, while the second manacle tightly bound his ankle. The two manacles were both placed in inconvenient areas, with no way to hide them. In the past, if others were to ask about them, Xie Lian randomly made up an answer and said that they was necessary for practicing his art. But if it was San Lang who asked, the boy may not be so easily fooled.

However, San Lang only stared at his ankle for a moment and did make any more comments. Xie Lian also didn’t want to entangle himself on the topic and proceeded to lie down. The young man also obediently laid down beside him with his clothes still on. Guessing he was probably unused to sleeping on the floor undressed, Xie Lian thought to himself that he should really get a bed. “Let’s rest,” he said.

With a light blow, the red candle’s flame was extinguished.

The following morning, when Xie Lian opened his eyes, he noticed that San Lang was not lying next to him. Lifting his head to look around, his heart suddenly shook.

Unexpectedly, above the offerings table was a portrait.

The portrait was of a man clad in splendid clothing and a golden mask, wielding a sword in one hand and holding a flower in the other. The vigour in each brush stroke were excellent, and the colors used were exquisite This was in fact a portrait of ‘The Xian Le Crown Prince who pleased the Gods.’

It had been many years since Xie Lian had last seen this painting, so he stared at it blankly for a while before finally getting up. After dressing himself, he pulled aside the curtain. San Lang was outside the monastery, resting in a patch of shade. The teenager spun a broomstick between his hands for fun whilst gazing up at the sky and looking infinitely bored.

The young man didn’t seem very fond of the sunlight. From the way he gazed up at the sky, it seemed as if he was contemplating how to yank down the sun and stomp it to mush. Outside the door lay a pile of fallen leaves, all neatly swept into a pile. Xie Lian went out the door and asked, “Did you rest well last night?”

Still leaning against the wall, San Lang turned his head and answered, “Not bad.”

Xie Lian walked over and took the broom from his hand. “San Lang, was the portrait in the monastery drawn by you?

“Nhn.”

“You drew it very well,” Xie Lian said.

Although he didn’t speak, the corners of San Lang’s mouth quirked upwards. Unsure if it was due to the way he had slept the night before, his hair seemed more lopsided and disheveled than yesterday, complete with loose strands here and there; carelessly messy. But in reality, it was also very good looking. Carelessly disheveled but not disorderly, it had a touch of charm. Xie Lian pointed to his own hair. “Want me to help you?”

San Lang nodded and went back inside the monastery with Xie Lian. When he sat down, Xie Lian untied his hair and held it in his hand, calmly and carefully examining it.

Even if the palm lines and fingerprints were recreated perfectly, ghosts and ghouls would always slip up on one part. A living person’s hair was numerous in numbers and rather uncountable, since each strand was so fine and distinct. Consequently, many ghost and ghouls’ fake skin ended up having hair that looked like a black cloud, or with strands glued together like strips of fabric. Or, they would simply just……forgo it altogether and just take on the appearance of being bald.

Last night, Xie Lian was able to confirm that San Lang’s fingerprints and palm lines existed and thus had initially let down his guard. However, when he saw the portrait this morning, he couldn’t help but feel slightly suspicious again.

How could a normal person know how to draw this painting?

But when his fingers gently stroked through San Lang’s hair, subtly examining it, he discovered the young man’s black hair was smooth and long without any abnormalities. After a while, perhaps because his actions were ticklish, San Lang laughed once. He slightly tilted his head and glanced at him from the corner of his eye before saying, “Gege, are you trying to help me tie my hair, or did you have something else in mind you would rather do?”

With his long hair down in a loose manner, it didn’t detract from San Lang’s beauty and instead added a devilish aura. The question seemed to be teasing. Smiling, Xie Lian said, “Alright, alright,” before he swiftly went about tying his hair.

Who knew, after he had finished tying his hair, San Lang took a look at his reflection in the water basin nearby before he turned back and raised an eyebrow at Xie Lian. Seeing his reaction, Xie lian gently coughed again.

Before, his hair was lopsided. After retying and adjusting it, it was still crooked.

Even though San Lang hadn’t said a word and was just looking at him in this manner, Xie Lian still felt like it had been at least a few hundred years or so since he had felt this embarrassed. Dropping his hands, he was just about to say to San Lang ‘Come over here, let’s try again’ when suddenly, he heard a loud outbreak of noise coming from outside. Sounds of footsteps came from all directions, along with a few shouts of “Great Immortal!”

Xie Lian was startled upon hearing this and rushed outside, only to see many people blocking the front entrance to his monastery. Each one of them was red-faced with excitement. The village chief rushed forward and seized his hand before saying, “Great Immortal, to have a living god come to our village is really too wonderful!”

Xie Lian, “???”

The rest of the villagers had already surrounded him, “Great Immortal, welcome to our Pu Qi Village and for settling down here!”

“Great Immortal! Could you bless me and let me find a wife?!”

“Great Immortal! Can you bless that one family member of mine to hurry up and give birth to a child!”

“Great Immortal! I have fresh water chestnuts here! Do you want to eat them?! While you eat them, could you also bless me with a good harvest this year?!”

The villagers were all too enthusiastic, cornering him from all sides while forcing Xie Lian to continuously retreat. His heart was crying out bitterly. The old man from last night sure was big-mouthed. Despite plainly stressing the importance of not uttering a word, at the break of dawn the whole village already knew!

The villagers didn’t know which god the monastery was devoted to at the beginning, but they all firmly requested to burn an incense stick. In any case, no matter which god it was, a god is still a god all the same and praying to them wouldn’t do any harm. What Xie Lian had originally expected was that the monastery would be completely deserted without a single soul in sight and that throughout the year, there wouldn’t even be a handful of people who would approach his door. Therefore, he had only prepared a small bundle of spooled incense as a gesture of goodwill. Who would expect that this event could instantly sweep his entire stock clean. The little censer was filled full and thoroughly, densely packed with incense stuck haphazardly in all directions. The scent of incense permeated the air, and due to how long it had been since he had inhaled such a scent, Xie Lian actually choked on it a few times.

While choking on a few mouthfuls, he spoke, “Cough, fellow countryman, I really can’t bless you with wealth and treasures, really. Cough, please, by all means, don’t pray for wealth here! There may be unforeseen consequences…..I’m sorry, please don’t ask about marriage either….No, no, I also can’t bless you in regards to bearing and raising children.”………

San Lang had also stopped minding his crookedly-tied hair and sat right beside the donation box, with a hand propping his chin and with the other lazily throwing chestnuts into his mouth as he ate. Several village women caught sight of him, their faces blushing over like crimson clouds before they asked Xie Lian, “Um……that, do you…….”

Even though he didn’t know what they were about to ask, Xie Lian’s intuition told him he had to stop them immediately, so he said, “No!”

With great difficulty, the crowd finally dispersed, leaving the offering table now filled with fruits, vegetables, and even white rice, noodles and other items. For better or worse, he had at last received a wave of offerings. Xie Lian swept out the litter that the villagers had left outside. San Lang followed him out, saying, “The incense is quite nice.”

Xie Lian swept while shaking his head. “Under normal circumstances, ten days to half a month would pass without a single person coming in for a blessing.”

“How could this be?” San Lang asked.

Xie Lian glanced at him, smiling, “Now that I think about it, perhaps San Lang’s luck has rubbed off on me a bit. ”

As he said this, he remembered he had wanted to change the door curtain. Thus, tugging out a new curtain from within his sleeve, he hung it on top of the door. He took two steps back to look it over, when suddenly, he noticed that San Lang had stopped in his tracks. Xie Lian turned around his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Only to see San Lang staring at the curtain, a pensive expression on his face. Following his line of sight, Xie Lian saw that he was eyeing the spells written on the curtain.

This talisman was something he had casually drawn some time ago, and on it were spells upon spells, layering one over another. It’s defense was very strong. It’s purpose was originally for warding off evil and it could repel the advances of any evil outside, preventing them from entering.

Yet, since this was written by Xie Lian himself, would this also work in attracting misfortune at the same time? There was no way of knowing. However, since the monastery didn’t even have a front door, it would be safer to have a row of spells drawn onto the curtain.

Seeing how the young man stood in front of the curtain, motionless, something stirred within Xie Lian, “San Lang?”

What if, by drawing this talisman, the teenager would be restricted at the door and prevented from entering?


	17. Within Pu Qi Monastery, Strange Tales of Ban Yue Pass

San Lang glanced at him, chuckling as he said, “I’m leaving for a bit.”

After casually dropping this line, he turned on his heels and left. Logically speaking, Xie Lian should have chased after him to ask about it, but he had a strange feeling that since the young man had already said he’d only be gone for a bit, then he wouldn’t be gone for very long. He would definitely come back. So, Xie Lian took the initiative and went back inside the monastery.

Xie Lian rummaged through the things he had collected last night while wandering through the city’s alleys; his left hand grasped a metal pot, while his right found a cooking knife. He looked at the pile of fruits and vegetables on the offerings table and rose from his seat.

After about an incense stick later

1, the sound of footsteps indeed sounded from outside the Pu Qi Monastery. These footsteps sounded neither soft nor hurried, and upon hearing them, one could easily imagine a young man walking in with a casual demeanor.

At this point, the items Xie Lian had been holding in his hands had already transformed into two plates. He looked left and right at the stuff on the plates, before letting out a long sigh. Not wanting to look at it anymore, he peered outside and, as he had expected, he saw San Lang again.

The young man stood outside the monastery. Perhaps it was due to the blaze of the harsh sun, he had taken off his red outer shirt and had it casually tied around his waist. He only had on a thin, white shirt for his top, with his sleeves were rolled up, making him look rather clean and dexterous. His right foot stepped on a rectangular piece of wood, and his left hand spun a billhook machete.

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The machete was probably borrowed from one of the villagers. It looked dull and heavy, yet in his hands, it seemed light and extremely sharp. Every so often, San Lang would shave off a few slivers of wood from the wooden board, much like peeling rind.

When he raised his eyes and saw Xie Lian come out, he said, “I’m making something.”

Walking over to take a look, Xie Lian realized he was actually making a door. The sizing was just right. With excellent craftsmanship, the door was beautifully elegant and had a smooth finish. Due to how the young man seemed to have come from a rich background, Xie Lian had thought he would be the type who could do neither physical work nor distinguish rice from wheat

2\. Who knew he was so quick with his hands?

“I’ve troubled you, San Lang,” Xie Lian said.

San Lang smiled, adding no further comment. Swiftly throwing the machete aside, he immediately went to install the door. Then, he knocked on it a few times before telling him, “Since you’re going to draw a talisman, why not draw it on the door? Wouldn’t that be better?

Having said that, he nonchalantly lifted the curtain and entered.

It seemed that the barrier talisman on the curtain really acted as no deterrence for him, and San Lang appeared to not care at all.

Xie Lian closed the newly-made door, but then he couldn’t resist opening it again, only to close, open, then close it again. Admiring how well-made the door was after opening and closing it a few times, he was suddenly taken aback by how senseless he was acting. On the other end, San Lang had already sat himself down in the house. Xie Lian left the door alone and brought out a plate of plain, steamed buns that were this morning’s offerings from the villagers before placing them on the offering table.

San Lang took a look at the buns. He didn’t say a word but quietly started to laugh again, as if he had seen through something. Xie Lian acted as if nothing had happened and poured another two bowls of water. Just when he was about to sit down, he saw what was under San Lang’s rolled up sleeve. His forearm had a row of tiny tattoos, and the tattooed characters were all quite strange. Noticing his gaze, San Lang let down his sleeves and chuckled as he said, “I got them when I was young.”

Since he had let down his sleeves, it meant he didn’t want to discuss the topic further. Xie Lian understood. He sat himself down before lifting his head to look at the portrait again, saying, “San Lang, you draw so well, did you have someone teach you back home?”

San Lang jabbed at a few buns with his chopsticks. “No one taught me. I just drew for my own amusement.”

Xie Lian asked, “How did you even know how to draw the portrait of ‘the Xian Le Crown Prince who pleased the Gods’?”

San Lang laughed, saying, “Didn’t you say before that I knew everything? Of course I’d know how to draw it.”

Even though this was a rather shameless reply, his attitude was magnanimous, as if he wasn’t worried about raising Xie Lian’s suspicious, nor was he afraid of being further questioned. Xie Lian smiled and dropped the subject. And at that precise moment, a clamor arose from outside. The two of them raised their heads in sync and glanced at one another.

Only to hear someone from outside fiercely pound on the door, yelling, “Great Immortal! Oh my gosh, it’s terrible! Great Immortal, save us!”

Xie Lian opened the door and saw a crowd of people standing out front, encircling the entrance. Upon seeing him open the door, the village chief called out in exultation, “Great Immortal! This person looks like he’s about to die! Please, quickly save him!”

As soon as he heard someone was about to die, Xie Lian hastened to look, only to see that the person the villagers had surrounded was a Taoist. His hair was disheveled and his face dirty. His clothes and shoes were ripped and tattered, as if he had been on the run for many days. It seemed as if he had only just collapsed and passed out here before he was then brought over. Xie Lian said, “Don’t panic. He’s not dead.”

He bent down to check the person’s body. During this process, he noticed that the person had carried some objects on his person, such as the eight trigrams and an iron sword, all which were effective enchantment tools. It seemed that this person wasn’t an ordinary jianghu

3Taoist. Xie Lian’s heart couldn’t help but sink at the fact.

Not long after, the Taoist awoke before asking with a hoarse voice, “ …..where is this?” .

The village chief answered, “This is Pu Qi Village!”

That person mumbled, “……..Out. I’m out, I’ve finally escaped….”

He glanced around. Suddenly, his eyes widened before he fearfully said, “H-Help, help! Please help!”

Xie Lian had anticipated this kind of reaction. He said, “Fellow Taoist friend, what is the matter? Who should I help? What’s wrong? Don’t rush, take your time and tell me clearly.”

The villagers also said, “That’s right, have no fear. We’ve got a great immortal here, he will definitely settle all your matters!”

Xie Lian, “???”

Actually, these villagers had never seen him perform any godly feats, yet they all seriously believed he was a living god. Xie Lian didn’t know what to say either as he thought, ‘to settle all his matters was something impossible to guarantee.”

To that person, he asked, “Where did you come from?”

The Taoist devotee said, “I……I came from Ban Yue Pass.

Hearing this, everyone present turned to look at each other. “Where is Ban Yue Pass?”

“Never heard of it!”

Xie Lian said, “Ban Yue Pass is in the Northwest region. It’s extremely far from here. How did you get here?”

That person said, “I……It was through great difficulty that I could escape to here.”

He spoke incoherently, and his emotions were extremely unstable. In this situation, the more people around, the harder it was to speak. With everyone talking at once, you wouldn’t be able to speak clearly nor would you be able to hear clearly. Xie Lian said, “Let’s talk after going inside.”

He gently helped the man inside, then turned around to speak to the villagers. “Could everyone please go home and stop spectating?”

The villagers, however, were all very enthusiastic as they asked:

“Great Immortal, what’s gotten to him?”

“Yeah, what happened?”

“If there are difficulties, we will all pitch in to help!”

Sadly, the more enthusiastic they were, the more they would be incapable of assisting. Feeling helpless, Xie Lian lowered his voice and solemnly said, “This……could be possession.”

The villagers were aghast upon hearing those words. Possession was nothing to joke about. It wouldn’t do for them to keep watching, so they all quickly dispersed. Xie Lian, unsure of whether to laugh or cry, closed the door. San Lang was still seated beside the offering table, his hands twirling a pair of chopsticks for fun. He was squinting at that man, his gaze rather scrutinizing. Xie Lian told him, “It’s nothing. You can continue eating.”

He let that man sit down, but remained standing himself. “This Taoist friend, I am this monastery’s master, and I can also be considered as a cultivator. Don’t worry, if something has happened, you can say it. And, should there be something I can help you with, perhaps I can lend what little strength I have. In regards to what you mentioned earlier, what happened to Ban Yue?”

The man panted. It seemed that, after entering a less-crowded space and hearing Xie Lian’s comforting words, he was finally able to calm down. He said, “Have you never heard of this place?”

Yet, Xie Lian replied, “I’ve heard of it. Ban Yue Pass is an oasis within a Gobi desert

4\. Ban Yue’s nightscape is extremely beautiful, and can be described as quite a dazzling scenic view. That was how it got its name.”

That man said, “Oasis? Scenic? Those were times from two centuries ago. Now, calling it the Ban Ming Pass

5 would be more accurate!”

Slightly perplexed, Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean?”

The man’s complexion turned pale to the point it was frightening. He said, “Because it doesn’t matter where one came from, at least half of those who traveled there will disappear without a trace. Wouldn’t it be more fitting for it to be called ‘Ban Ming Pass’?”

This was really unheard of. Xie Lian said, “Who did you hear this from?”

“I didn’t hear this from anyone. This is what I witnessed with my own eyes!” Sitting up, the man continued, “There was a caravan that wanted to travel through that place. They knew of the evils happening there, and had asked our whole division to escort them on their journey. In the end……”

His voice was filled with grief as he said, “In the end, I am the only one left.” .

Xie Lian lifted his hand and motioned him to sit well and not get too agitated. “How many people were in your party?”

“My entire sect, plus the caravan, had around sixty people!”

Around sixty people. When that female ghost Xuan Ji had wreaked havoc within the course of a century, what Ling Wen Palace had finally calculated was that the total number of people killed hadn’t exceeded past two hundred. But listening to what the Taoist had said, this sort of event seemed to have been happening for over a century. If this many people went missing every time, then adding the numbers up altogether would render this no longer a small matter. Xie Lian asked, “When did Ban Yue Pass first become Ban Ming Pass?”

The man said, “Around a hundred fifty years ago was probably when it had started; when that place became the domain of evil.”

Xie Lian had wanted to ask in detail about the murders of his party and about this ‘domain of evil’. But, from the very beginning to this moment, he couldn’t help but faintly feel that something was off. Right up to this point, Xie Lian had no way of suppressing this feeling of suspicion in his chest. Thus, he ended the topic and began slightly furrowing his brows.

Right then, San Lang suddenly spoke up.

He said, “You escaped all the way from Ban Yue Pass?”

The man said, “Yes! Agh, it was a narrow escape!”

San Lang made an ‘oh’ sound of understanding, then said no more. Yet, it only took this single question for Xie Lian to perceive just what it was that felt so wrong.

Turning around, he warmly said, “Then, after escaping from such a long way, you must be thirsty.”

The man was startled, but Xie Lian had already placed a bowl of water in front of him, saying, “Here’s some water, my Taoist friend. Why don’t you drink some?”

Facing this cup of water, an uneasy expression flitted across the man’s face. Xie Lian stood to the side, both hands hidden within his sleeves, quietly waiting.

If this Taoist man really came from the Northwest, all the while fleeing in a hurry, he was bound to be parched and starving. And looking at his appearance, it didn’t seem like he had the free time on the road to eat or drink.

However, after he had awakened, he had spoken so much and yet had not brought up any requests for food or drink during that whole time. Despite facing all the food and beverages on the offering table after entering the building, he hadn’t displayed a single desire or wish toward them. He didn’t even cast them a single glance.

This really doesn’t seem to be a living person.


	18. Within Pu Qi Monastery, Strange Tales of Ban Yue Pass Pt.1

Under the gazes of the other two in the room, the Taoist man picked up the bowl of water. With his back hunched, he began to drink it slowly. Through his body language, it didn’t seem like he was a man who chanced upon rain amidst a long drought, but rather a man who was hesitant and on guard.

Concurrently, as he was drinking the water, Xie Lian clearly heard the sounds of plop, plop, plop, as though water was being poured into an empty jar.

Instantly, he realized something. Grabbing the other’s hand, he said, “Stop drinking.”

That Taoist’s hands shook as he stared at him in bewilderment. Xie Lian smiled and said, “It’s useless even if you drink. Isn’t that right?”

Having heard what he had said, the Taoist’s complexion suddenly changed. With his other hand, he unsheathed the iron sword by his waist and made to stab at Xie Lian. Xie Lian stood in place, motionless, before he raised a hand to block him. With a ‘clang’, he swiftly blocked the blade’s edge.

When that Taoist man saw how he was still firmly holding his hand, he gritted his teeth and yanked away. Xie Lian only felt the arm suddenly deflate, as though it were a ball that leaked air, completely shrivelling up before it slid free from his grasp.

As soon as the Taoist man broke free, he fled towards the door. Xie Lian wasn’t worried because in this kind of place where there weren’t any external forces that could obstruct him, even if the Taoist man tried to run ten feet, Ruoye would still be able to drag him back.

However, just as he lifted his wrist, a sharp ‘whish’ passed by him .

That noise sounded as if someone had shot a sharp arrow from behind. It immediately pierced through the Taoist man’s stomach and nailed him to the door. Xie Lian fixed his gaze upon it before realizing that it was actually a single bamboo chopstick.

He turned to look, and saw that San Lan had stood up from the table, his demeanor calm and unruffled. Brushing past him, San Lang pulled out the bamboo chopstick. He swayed it twice in front of him before saying, “It got dirty. I’ll throw it out later.”

As for that Taoist man, despite suffering heavy injuries, not once did he utter a single cry of pain. Instead, he silently leaned against the door and slowly slid down. What gurgled and flowed out from within his stomach was not blood, but clear water.

It was in fact the very same water from that bowl he had just drunk from.

The two of them both squatted next to the Taoist man. Xie Lian pressed down on his wound a couple of times, and felt as if this wound was similar to that of a punctured hole in a balloon with air seeping out from the whole. In addition, this Taoist’s ‘corpse’ also began to change. His previous appearance was evidently that of a robust man. Now, it looked as if this person shrunk and got rid of a whole layer of fat. His face and his limbs withered a bit whilst it shrunk in size, so his appearance now was similar to that of an old man’s.

Xie Lian said, “It’s an empty shell.”

Some demons and ghosts weren’t capable of transforming themselves into perfect human forms. Thus, they would think of other ways: creating empty shells.

They would use some extremely life-like materials to meticulously create a fake person’s skin. More often than now, ‘skins’ like these would be referenced off of real people. Sometimes, they would even just directly use a person’s skin. In that case, one’s palm lines, fingerprints, and hair would naturally look flawless.

In addition, for an empty shell like this, as long as they didn’t wear the skin themselves, the shell wouldn’t be contaminated with ghost aura, so they wouldn’t be afraid of those talismans that ward off evil. This would also explain why the talisman on the door didn’t block the Taoist man from coming inside.

However, an empty shell like this could also be easily seen through, because after all, they were just hollow dummies. If no one was to wear the skin, then it could only move according to the commands it received.

In addition, these orders could not be too complicated and had to be simple, like repeated movements or ones previously set up beforehand. Thus, the appearances of these shells would usually appear relatively dull and lifeless, unlike an actual, living person.

For example, they would repeat one or two phrases, do the same thing over and over, answer their own questions, or answer evasively. If they had to hold a conversation with people, they would quickly expose themselves.

However, in regards to discerning empty shells from actual people, Xie Lian had an even more practical method. Making them drink a bowl of water or eat some things would be enough. After all, the shells were hollow, so they wouldn’t have the five viscera and six bowels

1\. When they ate something or drank water, the results would be similar to that of one dropping something or pouring water into an empty jar. You would be able to hear a clear echo, something completely different to a living person when eating food or drinking water.

That Taoist’s body had completely deflated. By now, it was more or less a puddle of soft skin. San Lang used his chopsticks to poke at the skin a couple of times, before he threw the chopsticks aside and said, “This shell is a bit interesting.”

Xie Lian knew what this teenager was referring to. They had all observed this Taoist man’s expressions and demeanor and kept them in mind. Not only did he behave lifelike, he was practically a living person. When he was talking to him, he was able to reply quickly and fluently. It could be said that the person controlling him possessed an astonishing amount of spiritual energy. Xie Lian gave San Lang a glance and said, “It seems like San Lang has some knowledge of this as well.”

San Lang smiled, “Not much.”

This empty shell had specially sent itself to his door to inform him of the matter with the Ban Yue Pass. Regardless of whether the information was real or fake, its goal was to lure him to Ban Yue Pass.

Just to be safe, he ought to drop in on the spirit communication array and ask around. Xie Lian pinched his fingers and calculated that his remaining spiritual energy was sufficient enough to support him through a few more uses. With that, he casted a secret arts and entered the spirit communication array.

Once he entered the array, he was met with the rare occurrence of it being filled with bustling excitement. Moreover, it wasn’t the kind of liveliness accompanied by busy official affairs, but rather one as though they were all playing some game, where they were happily laughing and giggling together. Xie Lian felt truly amazed before he heard Ling Wen say, “Your Highness has returned? How were your days in the mortal realm?”

Xie Lian said, “Not bad, not bad. What is everybody doing? They’re so cheerful.”

Ling Wen said, “Wind Master has returned and is scattering merits. Will Your Highness go and snatch some too?”

Sure enough, Xie Lian heard numerous Heavenly Officials within the spirit communication array shouting themselves hoarse.

“A hundred merits! I’ve snatched it!”

“Why did I only get a single merit……”

“A thousand! A thousand! Ah! Thank you Wind Master! Hahahaha……”

Xie Lian thought to himself, could this possibly be coins falling from the sky as everyone scrambled to collect them?

On one hand, even though his merit chest was completely bereft, but Xie Lian didn’t know how he would go about snatching some. On the other hand, all the Heavenly Officials here were extremely familiar with each other. Snatching merits from each other for fun as they joked around wouldn’t matter much. It would just be weird if he suddenly took part in this.

Thereupon, he stopped minding it and took it upon himself to ask, “Does anyone know about the place called ‘Ban Yue Pass’?”

The moment the words were out, the aforementioned happy and excited spirit communication array still fighting over merits instantly dropped silent.

Once again, Xie Lian felt slightly depressed.

Previously, when he sent them little poems or secret recipes, it wouldn’t matter if the other Heavenly Officials didn’t respond because they didn’t send things like that either. Therefore, since Xie Lian had sent them, he was indeed like a square peg in a round hole.

But, within the spirit communication array, there would often be Heavenly Officials asking questions in regards to official business. For example, ‘Anyone know this particular ghost? Are they easy to deal with?’ Or, ‘Is anyone’s domain near here and could lend a hand?’

During times like these, everyone would provide their own opinions. The ones with suggestions would offer their suggestions, the one who didn’t would say they’d ask around if they get the chance upon their return.

So, when Xie Lian inquired about the Ban Yue Pass, it could be considered as official business. There should be no reason for everyone to turn deathly silent the moment he opened his mouth, like what used to happen in the past.

After a while, someone suddenly shouted, “The Wind Master threw another hundred thousand merits!!!”

The spirit communication array instantly became lively again. One by one, the Heavenly Officials began fighting over merits, which also meant nobody cared about the question he had just asked. Xie Lian knew that the matter at hand was probably not an easy one, so he probably wouldn’t be able to inquire further within the array.

In his heart, he thought the Wind Master was really generous, because a hundred thousand merits in a single toss was quite amazing. Xie Lian was just about to withdraw from the array when suddenly, Ling Wen privately sent him a message.

Ling Wen asked, “Your Highness, why are you suddenly asking about the Ban Yue Pass?”

Thus, Xie Lian told her about how an empty shell had sent itself to his door. He continued, “That shell pretended he was a survivor that had escaped from Ban Yue Pass, so it’s inevitable that he came with a purpose. I didn’t know whether or not the things he told me were true or false, so I came here to ask. What happened to that place?”

On her side, Ling Wen pondered for a moment before she said, “Your Highness, in regards to this matter, I advise you to not take part.”

Xie Lian had more or less expected being told something like this. Otherwise, it was unlikely for this to have persisted for a hundred fifty years without anyone having inquired about it. In addition, the moment he asked about this, the whole court went silent. Xie Lian said, “Everytime a party through the Pass, more than half of the people go missing. Is this true?”

After a pause, Ling Wen replied, “It is difficult to speak further on this matter.”

Xie Lian could hear the deliberation win Ling Wen’s tone. One thing he could be sure of was that she must be in a difficult situation. He said, “Okay, I understand. Since this is inconvenient for you, then there’s no need for you to say more. In addition, the two of us never had this conversation in private.”

After collecting himself, Xie Lian left the spirit communication array. He stood up and with his broom, swept the puddle of fake skin aside while he muttered to himself. Then, raising his head, he said, “San Lang, I’m afraid I will be travelling to a far away place.”

Through Ling Wen’s attitude, one could tell that this was not a small matter. Since this empty shell had sent itself to his door, then it must have wanted to lure him into going, so this place couldn’t be anywhere nice. However, San Lang said, “Alright, gege. If you don’t mind, take me along with you?”

Finding this strange, Xie Lian asked, “The journey will be long with arduous sand winds, why would you want to come along?”

San Lang laughed and said, “Do you want to know what’s going on with Ban Yue Pass?”

Xie Lian paused before saying, “You even know about this?”

San Lang crossed his arms and said in a leisurely tone, “The Ban Yue Mountain Pass wasn’t originally named ‘Ban Yue Mountain Pass’. Two hundred years ago, that was the location for the ancient country Ban Yue.”

He slightly sat up straighter, and, with his eyes as bright as stars, he continued, “Ban Yue’s demonic path is in fact……”

Xie Lian placed the broom against the wall and was just about to sit down and listen. However, at the same time, a knocking noise sounded from outside the door.

As of now, it was already nighttime. All the villagers were scared back into their homes, afraid to come back out by Xie Lian’s words of the Taoist man ‘being possessed’. Thus, who could have knocked on their door?

Xie Lian stood beside the door and held his breath for a moment, but he didn’t feel anything unusual coming from the talisman on his door. Following that, he once again heard another two knocks. From the sound of these knocks, it seemed like there were two people simultaneously knocking on the door.

He pondered for a bit before opening his door. Sure enough, two teenagers dressed in black stood outside his doorway. One looked bright and handsome, the other elegant and refined. They were precisely Nan Feng and Fu Yao. Xie Lian spoke up, “You two……”

Fu Yao took the lead and rolled his eyes. Right off the bat, Nan Feng asked, “Are you going to Ban Yue Pass?”

Xie Lian said, “Where did you guys hear that from?”

Nan Feng replied, “A few Heavenly Officials were talking about it on the road. I heard you were asking about the Ban Yue Pass today in the spirit communication array.”

Xie Lian immediately understood. With both hands covered by his sleeves, he said, “I understand. ‘I volunteered’, right?”

Both of them displayed distorted expressions, as if it were caused by a toothache. “……Yes.”

Xie Lian couldn’t help but laugh. “I get it, I get it. But let’s agree on this first, if we come across anything beyond what we’re capable of dealing with, feel free to flee at anytime.”

At once, he shifted his body to the side and then invited them inside to fill them in on the details. But who knew, the moment the two of them saw the teenager sitting lopsided behind him, their originally dark complexions instantly turned ashen.

Nan Feng flashed inside, scrambling to place himself in front of Xie Lian before he yelled, “Back away!”


	19. Within Pu Qi Monastery, Strange Tales of Ban Yue Pass Pt.2

“What’s wrong?” Xie Lian asked.

Sitting, San Lang spread his hands out and also asked, “What’s wrong?”

Fu Yao frowned. “Who are you?”

Xie Lian replied, “This is a friend of mine. Do you guys know him?”

With a face full of innocence, San Lang said, “Gege, who are these two people?”

Hearing him call Xie Lian ‘gege’ made the corner of Nan Feng’s mouth spasm as Fu Yao’s eyebrows twitched. Xie Lian waved a hand at San Lang. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”

Only to have Nan Feng interrupt him with a yell, “Don’t talk to him!”

“What, do you guys know him?” Xie Lian said.

“……”

Fu Yao coldly replied, “No we don’t.”

“If you don’t know him, then why are the two of you being so…..” Xie Lian hadn’t finished his sentence when he suddenly felt something glow from both sides. When he looked back, he found that the two of them were simultaneously amassing spheres of white light in their right hands. Xie Lian felt a foreboding premonition well up and hastily intervened, “Stop, stop! Don’t be so rash!”

The two spheres of white light that had risen from thin air sparked and looked incredibly dangerous. It was definitely not something normal people could make. San Lang clapped, as if out of courtesy. “Amazing, amazing.” These words of praise completely lacked sincerity.

With great difficulty, Xie Lian finally restrained both of their arms. Nan Feng turned around and angrily asked him, “Where did you meet this person? What is his surname

1? Where does his family live? Where did he come from? Why is he with you?”

Xie Lian answered, “We met on the road, his name is San Lang, and I don’t know the rest. Because he had nowhere to go, I had him come with me. Let’s not be so reckless now, alright?”

“You……” Nan Feng held his breath and looked as if he wanted to scold him, but then he forcibly suppressed himself. He asked, “You don’t know a thing about him and yet you let him in?! What if he had any ill intentions?!”

Xie Lian wondered why Nan Feng’s tone sounded as if he were his dad. If he had been swapped with a different Heavenly Official, or even a different person, hearing someone younger than you speaking to you in this way would have already caused them unhappiness. But Xie Lian had already reached a point where he had long became completely disaffected by any berating and ridicule thrown his way. He also knew that the two of them had good intentions, so he paid it no mind. Just at this moment, San Lang asked, “Gege, are these your servants?”

Xie Lian warmly said, “The term ‘servant’ is wrong. To be more accurate, it would be helpers.”

San Lang laughed and said, “Really?”

He stood up. Conveniently grabbing something, he tossed it to Fu Yao,“Then, why don’t you help out a bit?”

Fu Yao caught it without even looking. Holding it in his hands, he tilted his head down to look when suddenly, a dark aura erupted from him.

That youngster had actually thrown him a broom!!!

His expression looked as if he was ready to smash both the teen and the broom itself to dust right then and there. Xie Lian rushed forward and swiftly took the broom away, “Be calm, be calm. I only have this one broom.” Who knew, just as he said this, Fu Yao released the white sphere of light in his palm. He hollered, “Immediately reveal your true form!”

San Lang didn’t make any effort to dodge. He remained in his sitting position with his arms crossed, and only slightly leaned to the side. That dazzling white light hit one of the legs of the offerings table. When the table tilted, the tableware slid off and crashed to the floor. Xie Lian placed a hand on his forehead, feeling that this could not continue. With a wave of his hand, Ruoye abruptly flew out and tied up Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s arms. The two struggled to get free but were unsuccessful. Nan Feng raged, “What are you doing!”

Xie Lian made the time-out gesture and said, “Let’s talk outside. Talk outside.”

With another wave of his hand, Ruoye started dragging the two outside. Xie Lian turned around his head to tell San Lang, “I’ll be right back.”

He closed the door behind him, and stood in front of the monastery. He then released Ruoye, grabbed the sign in front of the door, before placing it in front of the two. “Please read this and tell me what it says.”

Fu Yao, facing the sign, read, “This monastery is dilapidated. Sincerely seeking benevolent people to donate in order to renovate it. Accumulate merits and virtue.” He raised his head, “A dilapidated house seeking donations? You wrote this?? No matter what, you are still an ascended Heavenly Official. How can you write this kind of thing? Where is your dignity?”

Xie Lian nodded his head. “That’s right. I wrote it. If you guys continued fighting in there, I would be pleading for reconstruction instead of renovation. Then, I would really have no dignity left.”

Nan Feng pointed at the Pu Qi Monastery and said, “You don’t think that young man is odd??”

Xie Lian replied, “Of course I do.”

“If you clearly know he’s dangerous, why do you still dare to keep him by your side?”

Xie Lian saw that they had no intention of donating funds, so he went to put the sign back down and said, “Nan Feng, your words just now aren’t right. In the world, a person’s dispositions and strange encounters are countless. ‘Odd’ doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘dangerous’. One would know, to another’s eyes, I must seem odd as well. But, do either of you feel that I’m dangerous?”

“……”

This actually could not be refuted. This person clearly had fine bone structure and the refreshing appearance of an immortal, yet, on the contrary, collected trash all day. It was definitely weird!

Fu Yao said, “You aren’t afraid he’s scheming against you?”

Xie Lian asked, “Do you think I have anything worth scheming for?”

As soon as he said that, , Nan Feng and Fuyao were both rendered speechless.

This question was actually very reasonable. If a person was being targeted in a scheme, it was usually because of their wealth. But what was sad was that, if one really thought about it, there wasn’t anything valuable worth scheming for that the current Xie Lian would own. If one wanted money, he had no money. If one wanted treasures, he had no treasure. Unless someone resorted to coveting the scraps he collected everyday?

Xie Lian added, “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t inspected him already.”

The two focused their attention on him.

“How did you inspect him?”

“What was the outcome?”

Xie Lian relayed the few times he had inspected him to the two and said, “There were no results. I’ve already examined him to this extent. If he isn’t an ordinary human, then there can only be one possibility.”

A Calamity class!

Fu Yao sneered “What if he really is a Calamity?”

Xie Lian said, “Do you really think a bigshot ghost like a Calamity would be as idle as we are? Coming to a village to collect rubbish with me.”

“We’re not idle at all!”

“Yes, yes, yes…….”

Up on the small hill outside the Pu Qi Monastery, the three of them could hear the sound of that young man’s leisurely footsteps as he walked around the building. They sounded as though he was content and without a care in the world. Nan Feng dropped his tone and said, “This won’t do. We still have to think of a way to test whether or not he really is a Calamity.”

Xie Lian kneaded the space between his eyebrows, saying, “Then go test him. Just don’t go over the top. What if he really is only a spoiled kid who has run away from home? I get along pretty well with this kid. Be nice, don’t bully him.

Hearing the phrase ‘don’t bully him’, Nan Feng’s expression became hard to explain with just a few words, while Fu Yao’s eyes almost rolled to the back of his head. Xie Lian warned them again, before he reopened the door. San Lang’s head was lowered, like he was inspecting the leg of the offerings table. Xie Lian softly called, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

San Lang laughed and said, “I’m fine. Just checking to see if this table is fixable or not.”

Xie Lian warmly said, “What happened earlier was only a misunderstanding, please don’t take offense.”

San Lang laughed and said. “Since you’ve already said so, how can I take offense? Perhaps they thought I looked familiar.”

Fu Yao said in a freezing tone, “Precisely. A bit familiar. So previously, I was probably mistaken.”

San Lang smiled brightly before replying, “Oh. What a coincidence. I also thought you two looked a bit familiar.”

“……”

Although the two of them were still vigilant, they did not make any more drastic actions. Nan Feng muttered, “Clear a space for me to draw the ‘Shrink a Thousand Miles’ array.”

‘Shrink a Thousand Miles’ was a teleportation array. As its name stated, it could turn the distance of a thousand miles, of mountains and rivers into that of a single step. Aside from the fact that every use would expend a great deal of spiritual energy, nothing could be more useful. Xie Lian retrieved the bamboo mat from off the floor and said, “Draw it here.”

Earlier, when Fu Yao had entered, he hadn’t gotten to examine the interior furnishings. Now, after standing in this crooked, shabby house for quite awhile, he was able to see it all. As if his entire body, from head to toe, was uncomfortable, he asked, “You live in a place like this?”

Xie Lian handed him a chair and said, “I’ve always lived in these kinds of places.”

Hearing this, Nan Feng’s movements faltered for a split second before he resumed his drawing of the array. Fu Yao did not sit, his expression also turning rigid for a second. It was hard to tell what the look on his face was. It seemed nine parts blank shock and one part schadenfreude.

But he quickly hid this unfathomable expression and said, “The bed?”

Xie Lian hugged the mat and said, “This is it.”

Nan Feng raised his head, took a look at that mat, before lowering his head again. Fu Yao glanced at San Lang on the side and said, “You slept together with him?”

Xie Lian asked, “Is there a problem?”

For a long time, neither of them spoke another word, so Xie Lian assumed there weren’t any more issues. Xie Lian then turned his head towards San Lang and inquired, “San Lang-ah. You were half way into explaining it before you got cut off earlier. What happened to that Ban Yue demonic cultivator? Please continue?”

San Lang had been staring at them with a look of pensive contemplation, his gaze dark. Having heard Xie Lian call out to him, he snapped out of his daze and lightly smiled,“Alright.”

After arranging his thoughts, he said, “The Ban Yue demonic cultivator is actually one of the ancient Ban Yue kingdom’s grand tutors. Namely, one of the two demonic path masters.”

”If there are two demonic path masters, then it obviously involves two people. Who’s the other one?”

San Lang had an answer for every question. “Unrelated to the Ban Yue kingdom. A demonic master from the Central Plain, called Grand Tutor Fang Xin.

Xie Lian’s eyes slowly widened a fraction before he continued on listening.

As it turned out, Ban Yue’s people were extraordinarily strong and partial to violence and war, and they wielded great influence. They captured an important checkpoint in the Western Regions of the Central Plains, causing the two nations to frequently intrude on each other’s borders, unceasing in conflicts. Battles big and small erupted frequently. Their grand tutor was skilled with sorcery, and the troops had the utmost faith towards them, willing to follow them even unto death.

However, two hundred years ago, the king of the Central Plains finally organized an army to attack, utterly flattening the Ban Yue kingdom.

Although the Ban Yue kingdom was extinguished, the grand tutor and troops’ hatred and resentment did not disperse. They remained to haunt the place. Ban Yue Kingdom used to be a state full of greenery, but after it turned into Ban Yue Pass, it seemed as if the evil energy had corroded the once lush scenery and it was slowly consumed by the surrounding Gobi Desert. It was said that at night, people could still see the lofty silhouettes of the Ban Yue soldiers, grasping a wolf tooth club, as they roamed the Gobi in search of prey from afar.

Originally, this place had tens of thousands of inhabitants. However, all of them gradually became unable to survive, so they migrated away and left. At the same time, the legend, ‘every time someone crosses this Pass, over fifty percent would go missing’ began spreading out. As long as they were people from the Central Plains passing this place, they all had to leave behind half as their illegal ‘toll’——human lives!

Fu Yao put on a fake smile. “This young master sure knows a lot.”

San Lang smilingly said, “Not at all, not at all. It’s only that what you know is too little.”

“……”

Xie Lian was unable to hold back a smile, thinking that this kiddo sure had a sharp tongue. He then heard San Lang lazily add on, “Though, this is merely unofficial history and some ancient tales and rumors. Who knows if there really is such a grand tutor? Or if Ban Yue kingdom actually exists?”


	20. A Thousand Miles in a Step, Lost Within a Sandstorm

However, Xie Lian said, “Although what you’ve looked at are unofficial history and rumours, the Ban Yue Kingdom does in fact exist.”

”Oh?” San Lang said.

At this moment, Nan Feng had finally finished drawing layer upon layer of the array on the ground. He stood up and said, “It’s done. When should we set off?”

Xie Lian quickly packed a bundle before making his way to the front of the door. “Let’s go now.”

Placing his hand on the door, he said, “May the Heaven’s Officials bless us, all taboos are off!

1, and then lightly pushed.

The moment the door pushed open, the small hillside and village vanished. What stood in its place was an empty main street.

Despite the main road being wide, there were in fact very few people around. Half a day could go by and one would only see a pedestrian or two. This wasn’t because the sky had gone dark, but because it was less populated in the Northwest to begin with. In addition, since it was near the Gobi Desert, even if it was during the day, there still wouldn’t be many pedestrians on the road.

Xie Lian walked out of the building and reached behind him to close the door. He looked back again and wondered, how in the world could he have just walked out of Pu Qi Monastery? What sat behind him right now was clearly a small inn.

With a single step, he had travelled a thousand miles. This was precisely the mystical aspect of a Distance Reducing Technique.

A few passers-by walked by, mumbling among themselves while staring at them with guarded looks. At this moment, he heard San Lang speak from behind him, “According to the ancient texts, when the moon sinks from the sky, follow the Northern Star and you would end up seeing Ban Yue Kingdom. Gege, look,” he pointed towards the sky and said, “The Big Dipper.”

Xie Lian raised his head to take a look and then said with a smile, “The Big Dipper, it’s so bright.”

San Lang came to his side and stood shoulder to shoulder next to him. He gave Xie Lian a glance before he also raised his head and smiled. “That’s right. For some unknown reason, the night sky in the Northwest appears to be a bit brighter and clearer than the sky from the Central Plains.”

Xie Lian expressed his agreement with those words. On their side, San Lang and himself were deep in conversation about the night sky and stars, while the two young martial gods behind them found the both of them to be absolutely outrageous. Nan Feng asked, “Why is he also here?!”

San Lang said innocently, “Oh, I found the traditions of ancient divination to be very mystical, so I conveniently followed for a visit.”

Nan Feng angrily said, “Visit? Did you think we’re here to sight see?!”

Xie Lian massaged the space between his eyebrows and said, “Forget about it. If he followed us, then he followed us. It’s not like he will be eating your packed food; I should have brought enough. San Lang, follow behind me closely. Don’t wander off.”

In a rather obedient way, San Lang replied, “Okay.”

“Is the problem even about who’s eating whose packed food?!”

Xie Lian sighed. “Nan Feng, it’s the middle of the night and everyone’s asleep. Let’s just focus on our own business, our own business. Don’t mind so much about the other things. Let’s go, let’s go.”

Guided by the Big dipper, the four of them followed the path set straight towards the north. Having travelled through the night, the towns and greenery slowly grew scarce, while the sand and rocks on the road gradually increased. Once the earth beneath their feet ceased to be soil, that was when they officially entered the Gobi Desert.

Although using the Distance Reducing Technique could save them many miles, the farther the distance, the more spiritual energy it drained. With Nan Feng having used the technique once, it would take many hours before he could use it again.

And since Nan Feng had used up so much spiritual energy already, in consideration of the need to store some for potential battles, Xie Lian wouldn’t ask Fu Yao to use this technique again in order to guard against the unexpected. There should at least be someone with their spiritual energy at full capacity.

In the desert, the difference in temperature between night and day was drastic. During the night, the freezing temperature was cold enough to seep into one’s bones, yet it was still tolerable. But come daytime, it was a whole other experience. The sky here was incredibly clear and expansive with dashes of white clouds, but likewise, the blazing sun was just as fierce.

The group continued to walk, but the more they walked, the more it felt as though they were going into an enormous steamer basket. The hot air emitted from deep within the earth felt as though a day’s worth of walking could steam a person alive.

Xie Lian relied on the direction of the wind and the vegetation clustered at the base of the rocks to determine the direction they needed to head toward. Worried that some people would not be able to keep up with him, he would look back every so often. Nan Feng and Fu Yao were not ordinary people, thus there was no need to mention how they were doing. The sight of San Lang however, made him laugh.

With the blazing sun overhead, the young man had stripped off his outer robe and lazily draped it over himself to block the sunlight. His languid expression brought about a hint of weariness. With his fair skin, pitch black hair, and the way the red robe draped over his face, his countenance appeared even more stunning.

Xie Lian took off his straw hat and lifted his hand to fasten it onto San Lang’s head. He said, “I’ll lend you this.”

San Lang was stunned for a moment, before he smiled and said, “There’s no need.”

He handed the straw hat back to him. Xie Lian didn’t want to push back and forth on this matter, so if San Lang didn’t need it, he wouldn’t insist. “If you need it, just ask me.” He then supported his hat and continued walking.

After having walked some distance, the group saw a small, grey building amidst the yellow sand up ahead. They approached it for a closer look and saw that the inn seemed to have been abandoned for many years. Xie Lian raised his head to examine the sky before calculating that it was already past noon. He was afraid that they would approach the hottest and most trying hours of the day once it was the afternoon. Moreover, they had walked all night. It was about time for a break, and thus, he led the three of them into the inn.

Inside, they saw a square table so they seated themselves down around it. Xie Lian took out a water bottle from the simple travelling bag on his back. He handed it over to San Lang and asked. “Want some?”

San Lang nodded. Receiving the bottle, he drank a mouthful of water. Only then did Xie Lian take it back to drink himself.

Xie Lian tilted his head back and swallowed a few times with his Adam’s apple rolling up and down. The cool liquid slid down his throat and felt extremely refreshing. To the side, San Lang had propped his chin up in his hand and appeared to be staring at the scene, yet not at the same time. After some time, he suddenly asked, “Is there still some left?”

Xie Lian wiped the edge of his mouth, where there was still some water, left. His lips were slightly moist. Nodding, he passed the bottle back to San Lang again. San Lang was just about to take it when a hand blocked Xie Lian’s hand, the one that was holding the bottle.

Fu Yao interjected, “Hold on a second.”

While the others watched, Fu Yao slowly took out a water bottle from within his sleeve, before placing it onto the table. He then pushed it towards San Lang. “I also have some here. Please help yourself,” he said.

At first glance, Xie Lian immediately knew what he was up to.

With Fu Yao’s personality, how could he ever be willing to share a bottle with someone else? Xie Lian also remembered how last night, these two had wanted to investigate San Lang further. Thus, what was in that bottle definitely wasn’t ordinary water, but Form Revealing Water.

With this secret, medicinal liquid, if a normal person drank it, there would be no effect. But, if they weren’t human and had consumed it, then, under the effects of the medicine, they would be forced to reveal their true form. Since the other two had wanted to find out whether this young man was truly a Devastation or not, this bottle of Form Revealing Water held formidable power.

However, San Lang only laughed before saying, “Gege and I can share this one bottle of water.”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao both looked at Xie Lian who was sitting to the side. Xie Lian thought, what are you guys looking at me for? Tone cool, Fu Yao said, “His water is almost gone, please don’t stand on ceremony.”

San Lang said, “Really? Then, you two first.”

“……”

The both of them stopped talking. After a while, Fu Yao spoke again, “You’re the guest, you first.”

Although he still spoke with that refined and cultured manner, Xie Lian felt as though those words were forced through his teeth. San Lang also made a ‘you first’ hand gesture, saying, “You guys are the assistants. You first, or I’ll feel bad.”

Xie Lian watched them put on airs. But when such airs were discarded, they finally got physical. Separated by the space of the table, the three of them fought with the poor water bottle, pushing it back and forth.

Xie Lian felt the table tremble faintly from underneath his hands. Thinking the poor table was going to meet its end, he shook his head in regret. His companions fought a few more silent battles.

Finally, unable to hold back anymore, Fu Yao sneered, “Since you’re so unwilling to drink this water, then it must mean you have got a guilty conscience.”

San Lang laughed. “The two of you are being so unfriendly, and neither of you agreed to drink it first. Isn’t it more like you’re the ones with the guilty conscience? Could it be that you’ve poisoned the water?”

Fu Yao said, “You can ask the one sitting beside you whether or not the water contains poison.”

Thus, San Lang asked Xie Lian, “Gege, is the water poisoned?”

Fu Yao’s question was really too crafty. Naturally, Form Revealing Water was not poisonous. When an ordinary person drank it, it was no different than drinking normal water. Xie Lian could only say, “There’s no poison, but…”

He had yet to finish his sentence when Nan Feng and Fu Yao both glared at him. San Lang, however, immediately loosened his hand and said, “Alright.”

He lifted the water bottle and shook it a few times. “Since you said there’s no poison, then I’ll drink it.”

Having said that, the boy smiled before downing the entire bottle.

Xie Lian hadn’t expected him to be so clear cut and was slightly shocked by his actions. Nan Feng and Fu Yao were also stunned, both of them on guard. But who knew, after San Lang finished drinking that Form Revealing Water, he only shook the bottle a couple of times before saying, “There’s nothing too great about the taste.”

Then, he swiftly threw the bottle aside, where it made a ‘clang’ sound upon hitting the ground and shattering.

Seeing how he had drunk the Form Revealing Water, yet still seemed completely fine with no abnormalities, a look of bewilderment flashed across Fu Yao’s face. But immediately, he responded coolly, “It’s only water. Don’t they all taste the same? What sort of difference could it have?”

San Lang took the water bottle by Xie Lian’s elbow before saying, “Of course it’s different. The water here tastes so much better.”

Upon seeing this, Xie Lian couldn’t help but let out a smile. He truly had not cared about the outcomes of this test. Regardless of the results, he wouldn’t have cared about San Lang’s identity or his motives. Therefore, for the chaos that had happened in front of him, aside from it being amusing, there wasn’t much else to it.

Xie Lian thought things would have ended here, yet who knew, with a loud ‘clang’, Nan Feng had laid a sword onto the table.

With that kind of imposing manner, at first glance, it would have seemed as though he was about to kill everyone at the scene. Xie Lian felt speechless for a moment before he asked, “What is it that you’re doing?”

Nan Feng darkly muttered. “Our destination is dangerous. Thus, I am gifting this little brother a sword so he can defend himself.”

Xie Lian lowered his head to take a look. The sword’s scabbard was plain and simple, though the sword itself seemed to have been carefully sharpened over the years.

This was no ordinary goods. His heart trembled. Raising his eyebrows, Xie Lian turned to the side.

“It’s actually ‘Hong Jing

2’,” he thought.

Chapter 20 (II): A Thousand Miles in a Step, Lost Within a Sandstorm

The name of this sword was in fact ‘Hong Jing’, it was known to be a treasured sword. Although it could not exorcise ghosts or slay demons, no demons and ghosts could escape its enchanted mirror. As long as they were not human, once the sword was drawn, the blade would gradually turn red, as though infused by blood. Moreover, the blood-red blade would reflect the true appearance of the one who had drawn the sword. Whether they were a Fierce or a Devastation, no one could escape!

Young people always had eyes for precious swords and horses, and would look upon it with particular interest. San Lang let out an, “Oh?”. Seemingly very fascinated, he said, “Let me see.”

He held the sword in one hand, and grabbed the hilt in the other, then slowly made to pull the sword out. Both Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s eyes were glued intensely to his movements. The sword that had been unsheathed three inches was dazzling and as bright as snow. A moment later, San Lang let out a chuckle and said, “Gege, these two servants of yours, are they joking with me?”

Xie Lian lightly coughed and turned towards him. “San Lang ah, I’ve said it before. They’re not my servants.” Having said that, he turned back again. Nan Feng then spoke in his usual cold tone. “Who do you think is joking with you?”

San Lang laughed and said, “With a broken sword, how am I supposed to defend myself?”

With that, he resheathed the sword and tossed it back onto the table. Hearing this, Nan Feng’s brow raised in surprise. He abruptly snatched the sword and tore it from its sheath, only to hear a metallic clang. Within his hands, with an extra sharp edge was.…..a broken sword.

Hong Jing’s blade was broken three inches down from the hilt!

Nan Feng’s expression slightly shifted, before he took the sheath and poured out the remains, triggering a series of clanging noise. What was left within the sheath were the remains of the sword, all shattered into uncountable small shards.

Hong Jing could distinguish all kinds of demons and ghosts, this much was true. It was never heard of that something could escape its eye, but it was also unheard of that something could cause it to break into numerous pieces within the scabbard!

Nan Feng and Fuyao both pointed at San Lang. “You…..”

San Lang laughed out loud before leaning backwards with his black boots resting on the table. Taking a shard of Hong Jing, he tossed it about in his hands for fun before saying, “I assume you guys didn’t purposely give me a broken sword to protect myself. It must have broken on the way here. But worry not, I can defend myself without a sword. As for sword or whatever other things, you should keep it to use for yourselves.”

Xie Lian was completely unable to look directly at the sword. To speak of it, this treasured sword, ‘Hong Jing’, was originally part of Jun Wu’s collection. After his first ascension, Xie Lian had once gone to the Martial God’s Hall to play and had seen the sword there. He felt that although the sword wasn’t very practical to use, it still had its charms. Jun Wu had then gifted the sword to him.

Afterwards, he had fallen, and there had been a time where it was truly too difficult. He couldn’t keep muddling through then, so he had Feng Xin pawn it off.

That’s right, pawned!

The money received from pawning it off had been sufficient enough for the two of them to have a couple of good meals, and then……well there was nothing further to add. During that time, Xie Lian had pawned off far too many things, so he had decided it was simply better to forget it all, lest he started remembering from time to time and make his heart bleed.

Thinking back, Feng Xin, after his ascension, had probably remembered this sword and couldn’t bear the idea of this rarity from his era being left wandering the mortal realm. Which led him to go back down in search for it, before he brought it back. He sharpened it, polished it, and placed it in Nan Yang Palace, where it was then brought back down again by Nan Feng.

All in all, upon seeing the sword, Xie Lian could only feel a dull ache and had to avert his line of vision. He sensed how the other three were starting to fight again, and thus shook his head before he focused on observing the weather outside. He thought to himself, “Looking at the momentum, I’m afraid there is going to be a sandstorm later. If we were to get back on the road today, it’s unknown if we’ll be able to find shelter from the wind.”

At this very moment, outside the building and upon the brilliant golden sand, the shadows of two people suddenly flashed by.

Xie Lian immediately sat up.

The two silhouettes, one dressed in white and one in black, appeared unhurried, and one could even say they looked rather laidback. Yet, clouds billowed beneath their feet, indicating their speed. The one in black was tall and lean, while the one in white was a female official with a longsword on her back and a hossu resting in the crook of her arm. The man in black did not turn around, but the female official in white turned back to give them a smile as they flashed past the small building. The smile was as fleeting as their silhouettes. For no reason, it overflowed with a treacherous and strange feeling.

Xie Lian kept his gaze fixed outside, which was how he witnessed said particular scene. Within the small building, the other three were only able to catch an approximate glimpse of the silhouettes. As for everything else, they couldn’t afford to take note of the details for the time being. Nan Feng suddenly got up and said, “Who are those people?”

Xie Lian also stood up and said, “I don’t know, but they can’t be ordinary people.” He muttered to himself for a few moments before saying, “You guys should stop playing around, the wind looks like it’s getting stronger to me. Let’s hurry and get back on the road. However much distance we cover is still distance covered.”

Fortunately, although these people were at times like bewildered flying chickens or scared jumping dogs, when it came down to actual business, they were all able to collect themselves and get things done. Presently, they stopped clashing with one another, cleaned up the shards of Hong Jing and then left the small building.

For some time, the four of them walked head on against the wind. And during this time, they walked for approximately four hours. But the distance they covered this time could not be compared to the four hours they had covered from before. The sandstorm was much stronger than before. The gales, bundled with sand, pelted down on them, causing the exposed skin on their faces and arms to ache dully. The more they walked, the more arduous it felt. With the sound of the wind rushing by their ears and the ever-omnipresent yellow sand making their sight unclear, Xie Lian held down his bamboo hat and said, “This sandstorm came about very strangely.”

When there was no reply from anyone after some time, Xie Lian wondered if they had fallen behind. He turned his head back to look but saw that all three of them were still following him closely. It seemed like they had just not heard him speak. As it turned out, the sandstorm was too strong. The moment one opened their mouth to speak, the sound would be scraped away. Naturally, Nan Feng and Fu Yao would not need his concern. They walked steadily against the turbulence, looking murderous. But San Lang was always around five steps behind him, walking neither too closely nor too slowly.

Amidst the yellow, sand-filled sky, the young man’s expression remained undisturbed, without a single ripple of emotion as he walked with his hands crossed behind his back. Clad in red from head to toe, with his hair in an oblique disorderly dance, he appeared as though he felt no effect from the onslaught of the sandstorm. He remained completely unmoved, moreover, not even his eyes blinked once. Xie Lian had already been hit by the sand so much that his face hurt. Seen San Lang this way, with such disregard for himself, truly made him worried. He said, “Watch out for sand getting into your eyes and clothing.” He thought about it again, and realized even he himself could not make out what he had just said. Xie Lian then went straight to San Lang and helped him secure his clothes and collar. He wrapped him up tightly, preventing the wind and sand from getting in. San Lang was surprised. During this time, the other two caught up to them. With the four of them in closer proximity, they could finally hear each other. Xie Lian said, “Everyone, be careful. This sandstorm came too suddenly, something doesn’t seem right. I’m afraid it might be of some evil doing.”

Fu Yao said, “The wind and sand is just stronger than usual. Other than that, what else could it be?

Xie Lian shook his head and said, “The wind and sand are fine. What I’m afraid of is if something else was added in the sand.”

Right at this moment, a sudden gale blew off Xie Lian’s bamboo hat. Once it was in the air, the bamboo hat was about to disappear altogether within the infinite yellow sand. Nevertheless, San Lang was deft and quick to react. Shooting out his hand, he reached out and caught the bamboo hat that was about to fly into the sky. Then, he once again handed the hat back to Xie Lian. Xie Lian thanked him and fastened the bamboo hat back on while saying, “It would be best if we could find a place to avoid the storm.”

Yet Fu Yao did not agree. “If there really was something wrong with this sandstorm, then its motive could only be to stop us from advancing. If that’s the case, then we have even more reason to keep going.”

Having heard this, Xie Lian hadn’t even uttered a word when San Lang began to laugh out loud. Fu Yao raised his head and coldly said, “What are you laughing at?

San Lang crossed his arms and snickered, “Deliberately going against people, does it satisfy you to be so utterly unconventional?”

Even before, Xie Lian had always thought that although this teenager was always smiling, his smile often made it hard for people to distinguish whether it was actually genuine, or whether it was mockery in the guise of compliments. However, this time, anyone would be able to tell that there wasn’t even half an ounce of goodwill in his smile. Fu Yao’s expression abruptly turned cold as Xie Lian raised a hand and said, “You guys should stop for now. If you have something to say, save it for later. When the wind gets strong, it can also become quite frightening.”

Fu Yao said, “As if it could really blow people into the sky?”

Xie Lian replied, “Nn, what you said is very possible……”

Before he had finished speaking, the few people in front of him suddenly disappeared.

In reality, the one who had disappeared wasn’t them. It was him——This sandstorm had really bundled him up and swept him up into the sky.

It was a tornado!

Xie Lian spun violently around in mid-air. With a wave of his hand, he said, “Ruoye! Grab onto something firm and reliable!”

With a swish, Ruoye flew out. A moment later, Xie Lian felt the other end of the white silk drop, as if it had wrapped around something. Grabbing it, Xie Lian finally stabilized himself in mid-air with great difficulty. When he lowered his head to take a look, he realized that he had actually been brought to a place that was at least ten zhang

1 away from the ground.

Currently, he was like a kite, one only pulled along by a string with its centre tethered to the ground. Within the onslaught of yellow sand, Xie Lian grabbed Ruoye as he simultaneously strained to make out what Ruoye had taken a hold of. He looked and looked, before he finally made out a shade of red. The other end of Ruoye seemed to be wrapped around the wrist of a teenager dressed in red.

He had Ruoye go grab onto something sturdy and stable, but Ruoye ended up grabbing onto San Lang!


	21. Shortened Distance

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He was just about to get Ruoye to try again and grab onto something else, when he suddenly felt the white silk go slack around his wrist. Immediately, Xie Lian was overcome with a sense of dread.

This abrupt feeling wasn’t because Ruoye had loosened its grip on the other end, but because something worse had occurred.

Sure enough, that shade of red from the ground suddenly got a lot closer. It didn’t take long before it was within arm’s reach.

San Lang also got drawn into the sandstorm!

Xie Lian yelled at him, “Don’t panic!”

The moment he opened his mouth, he ate another mouthful of sand. With the way things were at this time, he had long become used to eating a mouthful of sand here and there.

Although he had shouted at San Lang to not panic, in reality, even he had felt that San Lang wouldn’t have panicked at all. Sure enough, after the young man had been caught in the air, Ruoye quickly retracted and pulled the two of them closer together.

Xie Lian got a good look at San Lang’s face. The expression on the boy’s face didn’t have even half an ounce of panic. Almost as if he would be able to read a book serenely even amidst the sandstorm, as long as he was given one. In fact, Xie Lian began to suspect whether or not San Lang had deliberately intended for himself to get rolled up into the air.

Ruoye went wounding around their waists a couple of times, tying them together. Xie Lian hugged onto San Lang before saying, “Go again! This time, don’t grab onto another human being!”

Thus, Ruoye flew out again. This time, what Ruoye had grabbed onto was……Nan Feng and Fu Yao!

Xie Lian felt both mentally and physically exhausted as he told Ruoye, “When I said not to grab onto a human, I didn’t mean for it to be so literal1…..well, alright then……”

He shouted downward, in their direction, “Nan Feng, Fu Yao! Hang on tight! No matter what, you must support us!”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao, who were still on the ground below, naturally wanted to support them. The both of them stood their ground, but it was to no avail. The sandstorm was just too wild and fierce. Not long after and to no one’s surprise, yet another two shadows got rolled up into the tornado.

Now, the four of them were all spinning wildly in the air. Between the darkened yellow sky and the dark yellow earth, the tornado was much like an askew sand pillar supporting the heavens. Furthermore, a strip of white silk now connected four figures within this sand pillar, all of whom ceaselessly whirled about without rest. The more they spun, the faster they went, and the higher up they flew. To one side, Xie Lian ate sand like mad, yet on the other, he yelled: “How come you’re all up here too?”

What they saw aside from sand was still sand, and what they heard in addition to wind was still wind. With no other choice, they had to yell at each other at the top of their lungs. As he ate sand, Fu Yao spat in contempt, “You’ll have to ask this strip of stupid white silk! What’s wrong with it?!”

Xie Lian grasped the stupid white silk with both hands and helplessly said, “ Ruoye ah Ruoye, all four of us are counting on you now. This time, you mustn’t grab onto the wrong thing again. Go!”

Carrying feelings of forlorn hope with him, Xie Lian once again let one end of Ruoye go. Nan Feng yelled, “Don’t count on this thing anymore! Think of a another plan!”

But at this very moment, Xie Lian felt the end he was currently holding on suddenly tighten. His spirits immediately lifted as he said, “Wait, give it another chance! It grabbed onto something!”

Fu Yao also shouted, “It better not have looped around a passerby again! Better let them go if it did!”

It came without saying that Xie Lian was also worried about this as well. He tugged on Ruoye a couple of times, but discovered that the other end didn’t budge even the slightest bit. Only then did Xie Lian’s heart relax as he said, “No! Not this time! The other end feels very heavy and stable!” He then said, ”Retract!”

Going against the frenzied tornado, Ruoye retracted with great speed. The four figures rapidly sped away from the wind pillar. Gradually, amidst the yellow sand in the sky, Xie Lian was able to perceive the black outline of a semi circle below them.

This outline was massive, and was approximately the size of a small temple. In fact, the other end of Ruoye was precisely coiled around such a thing. And only after they got closer to the ground did he finally see it more clearly; that thing was a giant stone.

Within a sandstorm of this degree, this piece of stone was like a firm and silent fortress. It was undoubtedly an excellent shelter against the strong winds.

During their entire journey there, they definitely had not seen a giant rock like this. Thus, they really could not tell exactly how far that strange tornado had taken them. The moment the four of them reached the ground, they immediately made their way to the other side of the rock that was blocking the wind. Feeling delighted as they took shelter, Xie Lian said, “This is truly a blessing from the heavens.”

It turned out that the side of the rock that was protected from the wind had a hole. The hole was about two doors wide, while the height was slightly shorter than one. But it was sufficiently large enough for an adult to enter, as long as they bent down and bowed their heads. The entrance wasn’t neatly made, and was rather crooked. However, it didn’t appear like it was formed naturally, so it was more probable that someone had casually carved out this artificial entrance.

Once Xie Lian entered, he discovered that the rock was carved out to be almost completely hollow. The space within the cave didn’t seem to be small, but it was relatively dark. Xie Lian didn’t immediately explore the entire place, and instead sat down on an area that was illuminated by the light streaming in from the outside. He brushed off the yellow sand on Ruoye before wrapping it back around his wrist.

Nan Feng and Fu Yao were both spitting out sand. Sand had gotten into their mouth, eyes and ears, so it was needless to mention the folds within their clothes. Shedding their clothes and giving it a good shake had resulted in a heavy stream of sand and stone.

Amongst the four of them, the one that looked the least affected was still San Lang. After he had bent over and entered the cave, he dusted off a few specs of dust on his red attire, but nothing more. This was done more for show and out of courtesy. With the exception of his hair being slightly dishevelled and his ponytail being combed lopsided, his happy attitude didn’t seem to have been affected at all. In addition, that lopsided hairstyle of his was originally combed crooked by Xie Lian. Hence, even if it became more crooked, it didn’t really matter in the slightest.

Nan Feng wiped his face twice before breaking out in curses. Xie Lian dumped out the sand within his bamboo hat before sighing, “Ah~ I truly hadn’t expected you guys to get blown into the air too. Why didn’t you guys use the Thousand Pound Spell?

While spitting sand, Nan Feng replied, “We did! But it was ineffective.”

On one hand, Fu Yao viciously shook his outer robe, while on the other he spat: “Where do you think this is? This is a barren desert in the extreme northwest. It’s not like it’s my General’s domain. To the North is the territory belonging to the second General of the Pei house. To the West is Quan YiZhen’s territory. Within these few hundred miles, there’s no way you’d find even a single Xuan Zhen Temple.”

It should be noted that there was a common saying within the mortal realm—a powerful dragon cannot crush a snake in its old haunts2. Therefore, since one of them was an official under the deputy general of the Southeast martial god, while the other was an official under the deputy general of the Southwest martial god, using spiritual arts on a territory that didn’t belong to them would inevitably mean that the enchantment in play would be subjected to restrictions. With their current appearances, Xie Lian believed that the two of them were both rather peeved and annoyed. It could be assumed that it was their first time being blown up into the sky by a gust of strong wind, only to whirl around in circles and be incapable of settling back onto the ground. Xie Lian said, “Both of you truly worked hard.”

San Lang sat down on the ground next to him. With a hand propped up against his cheek, he said, “Let’s just stay here and wait for the sandstorm to subside.”

Xie Lian turned towards him and said, “Looks like that’s our only option for now. As powerful as this tornado may be, it’s unlikely that it would also sweep up a rock this big into the sky.”

San Lang said, “But it is just as you said before, this sandstorm is indeed very strange.”

Xie Lian suddenly thought of something and said, “San Lang, I have a question.”

San Lang replied, “Ask away.”

Xie Lian said, “That Ban Yue Grand Tutor, are they male or female?”

San Lang replied, “Have I not mentioned this yet? Female.”

Xie Lian thought, ‘as expected’, and said, “When we were resting in that abandoned small inn, didn’t we see two figures walk by the front? Their steps were graceful yet odd. They definitely couldn’t have been mortals. In addition, the one in white had been a female official.”

Fu Yao was skeptical and said, “It is hard to distinguish whether or not they were male or female just by looking at their robes. Their figure was also taller than an average woman’s. Did you truly see it clearly?”

Xie Lian said, “I saw it clearly, there’s no mistake. So I’ve been thinking, could she have been the Ban Yue Grand Tutor?”

Nan Feng then said, “It’s possible, but there was a person wearing black by her side. Who could that have been?”

Xie Lian said, “That’s difficult to say. However, that person was walking faster than her, so his abilities definitely wouldn’t be beneath her’s.”

Fu Yao said, “Is there a possibility that they were the Two Demonic Cultivators’ other member, the Grand Tutor Fang Xin?”

Xie Lian said, “As for this, I think the reason why they’re called the Two Demonic Cultivators is probably because even numbers are easier to remember. Much like how in the Ghost Realm, there are the Four Calamities. Even though there aren’t four in reality, people went out of their way to gather four anyways.”

Hearing this, San Lang laughed out loud again. When Xie Lian looked at him, San Lang said, “It’s nothing, I just thought that what you said is very reasonable. After all, one of the Four Calamities is indeed just there to make them an even number.”

Thus, Xie Lian continued talking, “As a matter of fact, they probably have nothing to do with one another. I’ve heard a bit about this Grand Tutor Fang Xin. They were Yong An Kingdom’s Royal Tutor. There’s at least a hundred years interval between their appearance and the Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s arrival.”

Fu Yao found this to be unreasonable and said: “You didn’t know the Four Calamities of the Ghost Realm, yet you know of Grand Tutor Fang Xin from the Yong An Kingdom in the Mortal Realm?”

Xie Lian said, “Sometimes, when I’m passing by places as I collect scraps, I’d learn a few things. And it’s not like I collect scraps in the ghost realm, so of course I wouldn’t have known about them.”

At this moment, the sound of the wind from outside the cave had became a bit weaker. Standing slightly outside, Nan Feng hit the rock a few times to examine the material. After concentrating for a while, he bowed his head and said, “Why would this rock get a hole of this size dug out of it?”

He probably thought it was suspicious to see a rock like this here. However, this didn’t seem too strange to Xie Lian, so he said, “A hole dug out of a rock like this isn’t uncommon. The past people of the Ban Yue Kingdom, as in those who needed a shelter from the sandstorm, like the ones who had been out herding livestock and thus couldn’t make it home in time, or those who needed a temporary place to stay the night, would occasionally dig a hole in a rock like this. Some of these holes were not carved, but were blown out with explosives.”

Unconvinced, Nan Feng said, “How would you even herd livestock in the desert?”

Xie Lian said, “Two hundred years ago, this wasn’t a desert. Instead, this place also had an oasis.”

At this moment, San Lang said, “Gege.”

Xie Lian turned his head to ask, “What’s wrong?”

San Lang pointed his finger and said, “The rock you’re sitting on seems to have something written on it.”

“What?” Xie Lian lowered his head first before he got up. Only then did he discover that the place he was sitting on was a stone slate.

Sure enough, after wiping off the dust, there were indeed words written on the slate. However, they were engraved relatively faintly, so the words weren’t very visible. Half the slate was still buried within the sand. The writing extended upwards from the ground, while fading into the darkness.

Since there were characters written there, then they definitely had to take a look. Xie Lian said, “I’m low on spiritual power. Could one of you cast Palm Flame and help me illuminate this area? Many thanks!”

Nan Feng snapped his fingers. Instantly, a flame appeared on top of his palm. Xie Lian unintentionally glanced at San Lang, who didn’t seem surprised at the sight. After all, the boy had already witnessed the ‘Shrink a Thousand Miles’ array. Xie Lian felt that, no matter what either side revealed to each other in the future, no one would be surprised.

Nan Feng moved his hand to the place Xie Lian pointed at, and the fire illuminated the words engraved on the slate. The words were very strange, as if they were random drawings and scribbles casually scrawled by children. They were even slightly tilted. Nan Feng asked: “What is written here?”

San Lang said, “Naturally, they’re the characters of the Ban Yue Kingdom.”

Xie Lian replied, “I’m afraid Nan Feng was asking about the meaning behind the words. Let me take a look.”

Cleaning the sand off the slate, Xie Lian reached the top row. Several of the characters here were especially large, and appeared to be the title or subject. In addition, the symbols there seemed to repeat many times throughout the rest of the text. Beside them, Fu Yao also called forth some light onto his palm before he asked, “You can read Ban Yue text?”

Xie Lian said, “In all honesty, before the Ban Yue demonic cultivator had appeared, I collected scraps in the Ban Yue Kingdom.”

“……..”

“Is something the matter?”

“Nothing, I was just curious as to how many other places you’ve collected scraps from.”

Xie Lian smiled, before he bowed his head to continue reading. Suddenly, he said a single word:

“General.”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao both spoke at the same time, “What?”

Xie Lian lifted his head and said, “I said, what’s written at the very top of this slate is the word ‘General’.” He paused before continuing, “There’s another character written after ‘General’. However, I’m not too certain as to what this last character means.”

Nan Feng seemed to have let out a breath before he said, “Continue to examine them then.”

The moment Xie Lian nodded his head, Nan Feng held up that ball of Palm Flame. Once again, his hand slightly shifted forward. But with this adjustment, Xie Lian suddenly felt that there was something off. In his peripheral vision, there seemed to be something that hadn’t been there before.

Xie Lian pressed both of his hands on the slate full of engraved characters, before he slowly raised his head.

Only to see, amidst the darkness and superjacent to the slate, a rigid human face illuminated by the faint light of the flame. This face, with both eyeballs looking downwards, was currently staring straight at him.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The one who screamed wasn’t them, but the rigid human face.

Another Palm Flame became lit in Nan Feng’s other hand. Then, the flames upon both of his palms abruptly leapt upwards, reaching great heights. This finally illuminated the interior of the cave in its entirety.

Just now, what the light of the flame had revealed was someone who had always been hidden away in the dark. At this moment, they frantically crawled away to one side in retreat, withdrawing to the very edges of the depths in the cave. Unexpectedly, there was already a group of seven or eight people there, all huddled together in a group, trembling.

Nan Feng shouted loudly, “Who are you people?!”

The shout reverberated throughout the cave, making the entire place vibrate. Both of Xie Lian’s ears were already faintly pained from the ringing caused by the scream earlier. At this point, he had no choice but to cover his ears.

The sandstorm from before had been too strong, and the noise pollution had smothered their ears. Now, they struggled to hear each other even when they spoke at a volume just slightly lower than usual. In addition, after entering the cave, they had begun their heated discussion on the topic of the Ban Yue Grand Tutor. Later, they became very focused on deciphering the text on the stone slate. As a result, they did not sense there were other people hiding in the cave the entire time, people who hadn’t made a single noise.

The seven or eight people were all shivering. After quite a while, an old man around fifty years or so in age spoke up, “We are a group of ordinary merchants passing through this area. The sandstorm was too strong and we couldn’t keep going, so we ended up taking shelter here.”

Within the group of people, he appeared to be the most composed and seemed to be their leader. Nan Feng then said, “As ordinary merchants just passing by, why were you all acting so furtive and hid yourselves here?”

That old man was just about to say something when the young man, who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, standing beside him loudly exclaimed, “We originally weren’t acting in a furtive manner, until you guys suddenly burst inside. Who knew if you guys were good or bad? Afterwards, we faintly heard you mention something about a Ban Yue Grand Tutor and something about a Ghost Realm. Your palm was also able to light fire from thin air! We all thought you guys were those Ban Yue soldiers who had come out to patrol and to catch people to eat. How could we have dared to make a sound?”

The old man appeared to be afraid that this young man’s words came off as too provoking and would anger the other party. He said, ”TianSheng, stop speaking nonsense.”

That young man had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and was born with a strong and dignified appearance. When he got told off by his elder, he immediately stopped talking. Xie Lian’s ears had finally stopped hurting, so he put down his hands. In an amicable manner, he said, “A misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding. Everyone, there’s no need to be nervous. You can all relax a bit.”

After pausing for a moment, he continued, “We’re naturally not some Ban Yue soldiers. My humble self is the master of a monastery, and my companions are.…..people from my monastery. They study the arts of divination. You are all ordinary merchants, but we’re just ordinary Taoists. We mean no harm. Similarly, we wanted shelter from the wind, and just happened to enter the same cave. That’s all.”

His tone was warm and gentle, while his way of speech was slow. Hence, he was able to reassure everyone’s emotions. After repeatedly explaining and making guarantees, the expressions of the group of merchants finally eased.

But who would have thought that San Lang would suddenly laugh before saying, “How? From what I see, these merchants can’t be ordinary people. They’re just being modest.”

Puzzled, everyone glanced in his direction. San Lang continued, “When it comes to Ban Yue Pass, was it not ‘With every passing, half the party goes missing’? Despite being fully aware of this rumor, you still dared to pass through here. This can be considered as being rather courageous. How can you depict them as ordinary?”

Having heard this, that old man replied, “Young man, that is not always the case. In reality, rumors tend to be exaggerated, and there have been many merchants who passed through here in peace.”

San Lang said, “Oh?”

The old man said, “It’s fine as long as you find the right person to lead the way, and don’t end up accidentally straying into the former Ban Yue Kingdom’s territory. Thus, this time, to pass through here, we specifically found a local to lead the way.”

The young man named TianSheng said, “That’s right! It all depends on the leader. Us getting to this point is all thanks to A1-Zhao ge2. He helped us avoid so many quicksands. In addition, he had seen the wind pick up earlier and immediately took us to find a shelter. Otherwise, we might have been buried alive by all the sand by now.”

Xie Lian took a look. The one named A-Zhao, who had led their group, looked extremely young. He looked to be in his twenties, and was born with a sincere, honest and handsome face.

Appearing to be someone who was quiet and slow to speak, he didn’t react much when everyone praised him and only spoke in a stuffy tone, “This is nothing, it’s all part of my responsibilities. I hope that when the wind dies down, everyone’s camels and goods will also remain unscathed.”

“They’ll definitely be alright!”

These merchants’ attitudes seemed very optimistic. Yet, Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel that things weren’t as simple as what they had thought.

‘If one doesn’t stray into the territory of Ban Yue Kingdom, then there would be no problems.’ If that was the case, did the ‘half the party goes missing’ caravans in the past all refer to the people who didn’t believe this demonic ruse and were determined to send themselves off to die?

He thought for a bit, before he whispered to Nan Feng and Fu Yao, “This situation occurred quite suddenly. However, when the sandstorm passes, let’s first ensure that these people leave safely before we head on over to the former territories of Ban Yue to investigate.”

Then, Xie Lian once again lowered his head and continued examining the engraved words on the stone slate. He had previously recognized the characters for ‘General’, but that was only because this word could be considered as one commonly used. However, his stay in Ban Yue Kingdom was an event that happened two hundred years ago. Even if he had been fluent in the language back then, after two hundred years, everything would have been completely forgotten. Now, having to suddenly pick it up again, he truly required some time and patience. At this moment, San Lang, who was standing beside him, said, “General’s mound.”

As soon as he said this, Xie Lian remembered. This last character, did it not have the meaning of mound, grave or tomb?

Turning his head, Xie Lian asked in surprise, “San Lang, could it be that you also understand the ancient text of Ban Yue?”

San Lang chuckled and said, “Not much. It was just a hobby, so I only know a few words.”

Xie Lian was already used to him replying this way. Ban Yue texts were quite limited, and those who understood it were hard to come by. The word ‘mound’ wasn’t a commonly used word either. If it was truly as San Lang claimed and he only ‘knew a few words’, then how could it coincidentally be precisely this word? He said, ‘not much’, but Xie Lian was afraid that the meaning of his words was more equivalent to ‘ask as much as you like, it won’t intimidate me’.

Immediately, Xie Lian replied with a smile. “This is very good. Maybe the few words you know are the ones I don’t know. Come here, let’s look at this together.”

He gently beckoned him, so San Lang went over. Nan Feng and Fu Yao stood to the side while holding up their Palm Flames to illuminate the area for them. Xie Lian’s finger slowly brushed over each character on the tombstone. Together with San Lang, they discussed in hushed voices as they quietly continued reading. As they read along, their gazes grew more and more peculiar by the second, until they finally turned solemn.

The young man named TianSheng from the group of merchants was relatively young, and young people were always full of curiosity. Moreover, having previously exchanged a few lines with the other party, he had henceforth considered them to be familiar with each other. Thus, TianSheng asked, “Fellow big brothers, what exactly is written on this tombstone?”

Xie Lian came back to his senses and replied, “This slate is a monument, and what’s written on this monument is a General’s life story.”

TianSheng said, “Is he a General from the Ban Yue Kingdom?”

San Lang replied: “No, he’s a General from the Central Plains.”

Suspicious, Nan Feng responded, “A General from the Central Plains? Then, why would the people of the Ban Yue Kingdom give him a proper mound? Aren’t the two kingdoms constantly at war with one another?”

San Lang said, “This particular General was very peculiar. Although the slate called him a General, in reality, he was merely a famous little military officer.”

“Then, was he promoted to a General afterwards?”

“Not at all. In fact, he began commanding a hundred people. Afterwards, he led seventy people, and then after that, he only led fifty people.”

“……”

“In short, he kept getting demoted.”

To be demoted again and again, to the point one couldn’t be demoted any further…… this kind of experience honestly felt too familiar. Xie Lian felt two gazes collectively fall on his body, but he pretended not to notice and continued reading the text on the stone slate. At this moment, he heard TianSheng ask with incomprehension, “How can there be an official who becomes lower and lower ranked? As long as you don’t make any big blunders, even if you don’t get promoted, you also wouldn’t get demoted. How much do you have to fail to get to this point?”

“……”

Tightening his right hand into a fist, Xie Lian lifted it to the front of his mouth and gently coughed. Then, he seriously said, “Young friend, an officer who continues to get demoted isn’t something uncommon.”

“Ah?”

San Lang laughed and said, “That’s right, it’s quite common.”

After a pause, he continued, “The reason why this particular military official kept getting demoted wasn’t because he was incompetent and unsuited for his duties, but because the relationship between the two kingdoms was very bad. Yet, when he was on the battlefield, not only did he not bring back any achievements, he also repeatedly became a hindrance.”

Nan Feng said: “What do you mean by a hindrance?”

San Lang replied: “Not only did he try to stop the Ban Yue soldiers from killing the innocent people from his own country, he also stopped his own soldiers from killing the innocents of Ban Yue Kingdom. Every time he acts to stop innocents from being slaughtered, he gets demoted once.”

His laid-back manner made the seven or eight merchants slowly huddle together, as if they were listening to him tell a story. They seemed fairly invested, and they also expressed their opinions as they listened on. TianSheng said, “I feel like this military official isn’t wrong. It’s what it is when soldiers fight each other in battle. But for not letting them randomly kill innocents, isn’t this okay?”

“Although this is something foolishly kind for a soldier of his kingdom and not exactly suitable, in general, there’s nothing wrong.”

“Yeah. After all, he’s saving people, not harming them.”

Xie Lian heard this and faintly smiled.

The group of merchants in front of him were neither the people living at the border, nor were they the people from two hundred years ago. Nowadays, since Ban Yue kingdom had already been annihilated, people would naturally play down the matter when they mentioned it. They would be compassionate, and even give a few words of praise. And even if one didn’t agree with something that had happened, they would probably understand why it had been done.

But when it had been a hundred years ago, with both sides up in the flames of war and when hatred took no breaks, the consequences of the aforementioned behaviour would definitely not be lightly evaluated as being ‘foolishly kind’.

Within the group, only A-Zhao was a local. It was probably because of this that he was able to understand it better. He said, “Nowadays is nowadays, two hundred years ago was two hundred years ago. The fact that this military official merely got demoted already meant he was very lucky.”

Fu Yao only sneered before saying, “How ridiculous.”

Xie Lian could pretty much guess what he was about to say. Thus, he gently massaged the space between his eyebrows.

Sure enough, under the flame that illuminated Fu Yao’s gloomy appearance, he said, “Someone in his position should seek to do his duty. Since this person became a soldier, he should always remember to defend his own kingdom. When dauntlessly fighting enemies on the front line and with two kingdoms at war, it’s inevitable to kill. Being this soft-hearted would only cause his comrades to loathe him. Moreover, enemy soldiers would find him comical and ridiculous. There wouldn’t be anyone who would feel grateful.”

His words were also very reasonable, and so the cave fell silent. Then, Fu Yao said in a faint tone, “In the very end, there’s only one ending for people like that——death. And most likely, it would be at the hands of his own people.”

Having remained quiet for some time, Xie Lian broke the silence and said, “Yes, you’re quite right. He died.”

Shocked, TianSheng exclaimed: “Ah! How did he die? Did he really get killed by his own people?”

Xie Lian mulled over this for a moment, but still decided to say it, “That’s not entirely it. On the slate, it says that during one battle, whilst both parties were busy fighting one another, this man hadn’t tied his boot laces properly and had stepped onto his own laces. He tripped and fell, and then……”

Everyone in the cave had originally thought that this general must have died in an incomparably tragic yet moving manner. Thus, having heard what was said, they were all taken aback. They all thought to themselves, ‘What kind of death was this?’ before laughter broke out amongst them, “Hahahahaha…..”

Xie Lian: “..….And so he was trampled and slashed to death by both enemy and friend, whose eyes were glazed crimson from murder.”

“Hahahahahahaha……”

San Lang raised an eyebrow and said, “Is it that funny?”

Xie Lian also added, “Cough. That’s right, it’s rather tragic. Everyone, let’s show some sympathy and not laugh. Especially since we’re in front of his tombstone, we should give him some face.”

TianSheng hurriedly said, “I don’t mean any harm, but this is still……a little……haha……”

Xie Lian felt helpless because when he had read up to this part, he had also wanted to laugh a little. However, he decided to not bring that up. Instead, he continued to translate and read out loud.

Xie Lian said, “In short, although this military official had a bad reputation within the army, the citizens near the border of Ban Yue Kingdom and the people from the Central Plains who had been somewhat under his care started to call him ‘General’. Then, they built him a simple mound here and set up a tombstone to commemorate him.”

San Lang added, “Afterwards, the people of Ban Yue Kingdom discovered a miraculous part to this tombstone: As long you kowtow in front of this stone slate three times, you’d be able to turn an inauspicious start to a good blessing in the Gobi desert.”

His tone was really too enigmatic and unfathomable, which easily led people to believe him. The expression on his face was also deadly earnest. When people heard this, quite a few had immediately started to kowtow. It was better to believe that it existed than for it to not. However, Xie Lian found this rather baffling and said, “Ah? Is there really a sentence that said that? How wondrous.”

San Lang faintly smiled before he whispered, “No, I made that up. Since they had laughed at him before, making them kowtow to him now wouldn’t be asking too much, right?”

Xie Lian looked and saw that it was really true. There was already no more text left to translate on the stone slate. He had originally wanted to sigh, but now he just found it funny. Thus, he also whispered, “Why are you so cheeky?”

San Lang stuck out his tongue. The two of them were laughing when suddenly, someone screamed, “What is this!!!???”

This one shout resounded extremely sharply within the cave. Noise vibrating, it made people feel their hair stand on end. Xie Lian looked toward the direction where the shout had come from and asked, “What’s wrong?!”

Those who had been kowtowing in front of the ancient tombstone frantically got up and fled. Convulsing with fear, they exclaimed, “Snake!”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao both moved their hands in that direction. The two Palm Flames illuminated that spot of the ground from afar. Shockingly, a long and gorgeously coloured snake slithered upon the sandy soil!

Everyone all panicked, “How could there be snakes?!”

“Why doesn’t this snake make even the slightest bit of sound? It’s completely impossible to tell when it had crawled in!”

When the snake was illuminated by the flames, it’s body rose. It appeared to be extremely vigilant, and seemed as if it was ready to attack at any moment. Nan Feng was just about to strike it with a Palm Flame when he noticed someone slowly making their way toward it. The person casually caught it and soon had the entire seven inches of the snake’s body pinched within their grasp. Lifting their left hand, they brought it to the front of their eyes and carefully observed it while saying, “Aren’t snakes in the desert something common?”

Someone with this kind of unscrupulous attitude could only be San Lang. This was the so-called saying, ‘hit them where it hurts’1; if all seven inches of this snake was pinched to death, regardless of how poisonous its fangs may be, they would still have been powerless.

The tail of the snake weakly wrapped around San Lang’s left arm a few times. At this moment, the distance between San Lang and Xie Lian shortened, and thus Xie Lian got a good look at the snake. Its skin appeared to be half-translucent, and one could see wispy strands of black mixed within a bright, purplish-red colour. This colour made people associate it with that of internal organs, which rendered feelings of uneasiness. Moreover, the tail of the snake was actually the colour of flesh, and sectioned off as if it had layers of hard shell. In fact, the tail didn’t resemble that of a snake’s, but more of a scorpion’s.

Having seen that part more clearly, Xie Lian’s expression abruptly changed before he exclaimed, “Watch out for its tail!”

He had barely finished speaking when the tail wrapped around San Lang’s arm suddenly loosened its grip. The tip of the tail seemed to have become another snake head. After snapping backwards, it suddenly thrust out!

That tail stab came abruptly, yet San Lang casually reached out with his right arm and caught that tail with ease. He pinched the tail as if he was holding something entertaining, before he showed it to Xie Lian. Laughing, San Lang said, “This tail is rather amusing.”

Xie Lian saw that the pointy end of the snake’s tail actually sprouted a sharp and fleshy red thorn. Letting out a breath, he said, “Good thing it didn’t stab you. As expected, this is a Scorpion-Tailed Snake.”

Nan Feng and Fu Yao also came over to take a look at the snake. They asked, “Scorpion-Tailed Snake?”

Xie Lian replied, “That’s right. This is a unique, poisonous animal exclusive to Ban Yue Kingdom, and they are quite rare in numbers. I have never seen one before, but I’ve heard of it. With a body of a snake and a tail like a scorpion, the poison is more toxic than the two combined. Regardless of whether one was bitten by its poisonous fangs or stabbed by the poisonous tail, they will all……”

After speaking up to that point, Xie Lian saw San Lang begin tormenting the snake wrapped around his hand by turning it about repeatedly. He would sometimes stretch it, sometimes squish it, and sometimes he would even wring it out like a towel. By now, San Lang was only a step away from tying it into a bow. After a moment of speechlessness, Xie Lian softly persuaded, “San Lang, stop playing with it. It’s very dangerous.”

However, San Lang laughed and said, “It’s okay. There’s no need for gege to worry. These Scorpion-Tailed Snakes are the Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s totem. Opportunities like these are rare, so of course I have to carefully examine it.”

Xie Lian gave a slight start and said, “The Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s totem?”

San Lang replied, “That’s right. It was said that it was precisely because the Ban Yue Grand Tutor could control these Scorpion-Tailed Snakes, for the people of Ban Yue to think her powers were boundless. This was why they worshipped her as the Grand Tutor.”

The moment he heard the word ‘control’, Xie Lian felt that something was off. He thought to himself, speaking of control, the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes had always moved in a herd, one that would cover a large expanse of ground. Immediately, Xie Lian said, “Everyone should make haste and get out of here first. I’m afraid that there isn’t just a single Scorpion-Tailed Snake here…..”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when he heard a scream. “AH!!!!”

One after another, several people all began screaming in fear.

“Snakes!”

“So many snakes!”

“Over here too!”

In the midst of darkness, seven or eight purplish-red Scorpion-Tailed Snakes silently slithered out. They emerged extremely abruptly, so it was absolutely impossible to tell which hole they had crawled out from. In addition, they didn’t attack, and instead just stared silently at the group of people, as if they were examining what they were. These snakes’ slithering and attacks were all soundless, and they didn’t even have the hissing sounds a normal snake made when it flicked its tongue. They were truly extremely dangerous.

Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s palm flames shot out at the same time, causing a massive ball of fire to explode within the cave. Xie Lian yelled, “Get out!”

No one dared to stay in the cave for any longer and all but frantically fled outside. Fortunately, the sky reflected the beginning of a sunset and that tornado had long gone away. The sandstorm had also died down significantly.

The group of people evacuated toward an open area. As they ran and ran, someone said, “That tombstone is really frightening! How is it that we kowtowed three times in front of it, yet we still encountered something like this despite all that!” 

Xie Lian thought that it was a good thing they didn’t know the last part had been entirely made up by San Lang. But then he also heard someone else say, “Yeah! The results are relatively the same as worshipping that rubbish immortal! The more you worship, the unluckier you become! “

“……”

For an arrow to hit the bullseye despite being in a place so distant and unrelated, Xie Lian was left with no words. Suddenly, TianSheng shouted in fear, “Uncle Zheng!” The elderly man he had been supporting collapsed. Xie Lian rushed over and asked, “What happened?”

The expression on Uncle Zheng’s face was filled with pain and suffering. He raised a trembling hand, which Xie Lian caught to take a look. Immediately, his heart sank when he saw a purplish-red colour appear between the elderly man’s thumb and forefinger, and even the bump from the swelling was already very big.

Around the swollen area, one could, with some difficulty, make out a tiny hole. For such a tiny wound, one could surmise that it wouldn’t be noticed within a short period of time. Xie Lian immediately said, “Everyone, check if there are any wounds on your body. If there are, quickly tie the part up with some string to prevent the poison from spreading!”

He flipped over the man’s wrist to check his meridian, but saw a purplish-red strip visible to the naked eye crawling up Uncle Zheng’s arm. Xie Lian mentally thought that this snake’s poison was incredibly potent and was just about to untie Ruoye, only to see A-Zhao rip off a piece of cloth and tie it around the middle of the the old man’s forearm. It was tied extremely tightly, preventing the poisoned blood from flowing back into the heart. His movements were also incomparably fast, something Xie Lian internally praised.

Xie Lian lifted his head. Without having to say anything, Nan Feng had already taken out a medicinal bottle and poured out a single pill. After Xie Lian made the old man swallow the pill, TianSheng frantically shouted, “Uncle, are you alright?! A-Zhao ge, Uncle won’t die, right?”

A-Zhao shook his head and said, “If you’ve been bitten by the scorpion-tailed snake, within four hours, death is inevitable.”

Stunned, TianSheng said, “Then……what can we do?”

Uncle Zheng was the leader of the merchant caravan. Thus, many of the merchants were also anxious and asked, “Didn’t this young friend just give him some medicine?”

Nan Feng said, “What I gave him wasn’t the antidote, and it’ll only temporarily prolong his life. It would help keep him alive and extend the four hours to twenty-four.”

All the merchants felt agitated and at a loss.

“Only twenty-four hours?”

“If you say it like that, doesn’t that just mean he has no other choice but to wait for death?”

“Is this poison incurable?”

At this moment, San Lang slowly made his way over and said, “There’s hope.”

One after another, everyone looked at him. Overcome with happiness, TianSheng turned his head around to say, “Zhao-ge, if he can be saved, why didn’t you say anything earlier? You scared me to death!”

However, A-Zhao did not reply, and only silently shook his head. San Lang said, “Of course it’d be difficult for him to say. If those who were poisoned could be saved, but others might lose their lives as a result, how could one explain this?”

Xie Lian asked, “San Lang, what do you mean?”

San Lang replied, “Gege, do you know the legend of the Scorpion-Tailed Snake?” 

It turned out, legend has it that hundreds of years ago in Ban Yue Kingdom, there had been an emperor. He went deep within the mountains to hunt, and inadvertently caught two sinister spirits whose true forms were that of poisonous creatures. One was a poisonous viper spirit, while the other was a scorpion spirit.

These two poisonous beings cultivated deep within the mountains. They paid no attention to the affairs of the world and had never harmed anyone. However, the Emperor of Ban Yue kingdom wanted them dead because they were poisonous creatures, and were thus bound to harm others sooner or later. So, the Emperor wanted to kill them first.

The two spirits pleaded for the Emperor to spare them a single way to survive, but the Emperor was a ruthless man. During a banquet, he forced the two spirits to mate in front of an audience of ministers as a means of entertainment, while the Emperor himself and his ministers drank to their heart’s content.

And after the banquet had ended, the Emperor still had the two poisonous spirits killed. Only the Empress couldn’t bear for this to happen, but she didn’t dare disobey the Emperor either. In the end, she only picked a scented leaf and tossed it over, covering the two spirits’ corpses.

The poisonous viper and scorpion turned into evil spirits, full of resentment. They cursed their descendants born after their forced intercourse to remain there forever and kill the people of Ban Yue Kingdom. Therefore, the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes appeared exclusively within Ban Yue kingdom. Once bitten or stung, the poison moved quickly and violently, and one’s death would be miserable. However, because of the Empress’ benevolent action that night, the scented leaf she had tossed over to cover their dead bodies became the antidote to their poison.

After he finished explaining, San Lang said, “That particular scented leaf is from a plant called the Kindred Moon Herb. It only grows within the borders of the past Ban Yue Kingdom.”

After hearing this, the merchants began talking one after another. “This……This kind of legend, can it really be trusted?”

“This young friend, someone’s life is on the line, you shouldn’t be joking with us now!”

However, San Lang only smiled and didn’t say anything. After telling this to Xie Lian, he didn’t say much afterwards. Seeking proof, TianSheng turned to face A-Zhao and asked, “Zhao-ge, are the things the red-clothed gege said true?”

After muttering to himself for a moment, A-Zhao said, “It’s uncertain whether or not legends and myths are genuine or fake. However, within Ban Yue Kingdom, the Kindred Moon Herb truly exists, and this plant can indeed cure the poison of the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes.” 

Xie Lian said, “In other words, there’s only a single way to survive for those who are bitten by the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes. Yet this one glimmer of hope can only be obtained within the former Ban Yue Kingdom.”

No wonder there were so many passing merchant caravans and travelers who were fully aware of the saying, ‘With every passing, half the party goes missing’ but would still enter the former Ban Yue Kingdom. It was not because they were determined to send themselves off to death. Rather, perhaps if they didn’t enter the Kingdom, they would just meet certain death.

The Scorpion-Tailed Snakes were the Ban Yue Demonic Cultivator’s totem and thus could be controlled by her. In that case, the appearance of these Scorpion-Tailed Snakes definitely could not be a coincidence. Just relying on the few Heavenly Officials here would not guarantee the safety of all the people currently present. They also did not know whether or not more Scorpion-Tailed Snakes would appear.

Hence, Xie Lian lifted two fingers to his temple and tried to enter the spirit communication array. He wanted to see if it was possible to thicken his skin and borrow a few more little officials.

But who knew that his attempt to enter the array was completely unsuccessful. He lowered his hand and felt that it was odd. Xie Lian thought to himself, “I shouldn’t have used up all my spiritual energy that quickly? I calculated it this morning and I should still have some left.”

He immediately turned towards Nan Feng and Fu Yao before saying, “Could either of you try to enter the spirit communication array? I can’t enter it from my end.” 

After a moment, the two martial gods’ expressions both became solemn. Nan Feng said, “I can’t enter it either.”

In places with extremely strong evil auras, part of a Heavenly Official’s spiritual energy could be affected; temporarily weakened or perhaps even blocked. Xie Lian was afraid that right now, they had encountered a predicament that was precisely just that.

Xie Lian paced back and forth for a while, before he lifted his head and said, “It might be because this place is too close to the former Ban Yue Kingdom, so the spirit communication array became blocked……”

At this moment, he suddenly glimpsed an exceptionally dazzling smear of red from the corner of his eye.

On one side, Nan Feng and Fu Yao were still trying to enter the spirit communication array, while the other merchants were all busy checking their bodies for small wounds. Only that young man TianSheng was solely preoccupied with holding onto Old Man Zheng and worrying. He completely did not notice the purplish-red Scorpion-Tailed Snake that had silently crawled up his back.

And yet, when the Scorpion-Tailed Snake coiled up at TianSheng’s shoulder, what its fangs were aimed at wasn’t the young man’s neck, but rather the arm of the nonchalant San Lang standing to the side.

The snake leaned back, and then shot forward!

Right before the fangs pierced San Lang’s arm, Xie Lian flung out his hand, before he incomparably accurately grasped all seven inches of the Scorpion-Tailed Snake.

With the strength of his hand alone, he could have choked the Scorpion-Tailed Snake to the point all of its organs would explode, bursting out in a splatter of guts and brain. However, Xie Lian wasn’t sure whether or not the blood and flesh of the Scorpion-Tailed Snake were also toxic, so he didn’t want to risk making the wrong move.

He was just about to grab onto its tail, but who knew that the snake’s body would be so slippery, making it very difficult to grab onto. Although Xie Lian went to pinch it, he only felt something ice-cold, round and soft slip through his fingers.

And the very next moment, Xie Lian felt a sharp pain, like the prick of a needle, on the back of his hand.


	22. A Thousand Miles in a Step, Lost Within a Sandstorm

The scorpion tail!

However, right after he was stung, Xie Lian had also grabbed onto its tail. In fact, he had securely caught hold of the whole Scorpion-Tailed Snake in its entirety. Following that, Xie Lian tightened his grip until the snake completely fainted.

Despite having been stung, his expression didn’t change in the slightest. He only tossed the unconscious snake to the ground and said, “Everyone should continue to be careful, there may be more snakes nearby……”

Xie Lian hadn’t finished speaking when he felt something tighten around his wrist. When he lifted his head to take a look, he found that it was San Lang who had grabbed hold of him. Slightly startled, Xie Lian asked, “San Lang?”

The reason why he had asked this was because the expression currently present on the young man’s face wasn’t quite right. It was difficult to use words to describe it, but it basically made others tremble with fear.

San Lang stared intently at the minuscule wound on Xie Lian’s hand. This wound had originally been approximately the same size as a pinprick. However, the poison had spread fast, and thus the back of his hand had swollen into a massive, purplish-red hard lump. That small, pin-sized wound had also been stretched until it resembled a cut from a knife.

San Lang remained composed. Completely silent, he grabbed Ruoye and used it to tie a tight knot around Xie Lian’s wrist, which stopped the poisoned blood from spreading further. Although Ruoye liked to act like a spoiled and pampered child around Xie Lian and wasn’t always that well-behaved, it was incredibly docile in San Lang’s hands, to the point it seemed as though it was dead.

Ever since the two of them became acquainted, Xie Lian had never seen this expression on him before. Just as he was about to speak, San Lang pulled out the dagger hanging at the waist of one of the merchants. Having seen this, Nan Feng instantly understood what he was about to do and called forth a Palm Flame upon his right hand.

San Lang didn’t even look in his direction. Instead, he merely placed the tip of the knife into the fire. After sterilizing it, he turned around his head, before he gently yet swiftly sliced a cross mark onto the wound located on the back of Xie Lian’s hand.

San Lang was about to stoop down when Xie Lian quickly said, “There’s no need. The Scorpion-Tailed Snake’s poison is too toxic, so it’s useless even if you sucked it out. You should be more concerned about getting yourself poisoned……”

However, the young man didn’t allow him to explain. He just held his hand tightly before he pressed his lips to it. Unsure of the reason why, Xie Lian felt his arm, the one San Lang was holding, tremble slightly.

On the other side, Fu Yao said, “How can you even get stung like this? Your luck is truly something else. He might not have been bitten at all, so why would you go and grab it? You’re simply just causing us more trouble.”

These words were actually the truth. In fact, now that Xie Lian recalled San Lang’s carefree attitude as he tried to tie the snake into a knot, even he felt that San Lang wouldn’t have been bitten. And perhaps, even if he had been bitten, San Lang might not have minded it at all.

However, it was better safe than sorry. If the young man truly hadn’t noticed the snake and was bitten, wouldn’t it be useless to regret it then?

He waved his other, unwounded hand and said, “In any case, it doesn’t hurt and it wouldn’t kill me. Don’t mind it.”

Fu Yao asked, “It really doesn’t hurt?”

Xie Lian honestly replied, “Yes. I don’t feel it anymore. ”

This much was true. Xie Lian, being himself, was extremely unlucky. When he traversed through mountains, eight out of ten times he would step on poisonous snakes, startle poisonous bugs, and so on. He has already been bitten by an assortment of poisonous creatures a thousand times over, but his tenacity made it so that he just wouldn’t die. At most, he’d get a fever for three days and nights and upon waking up, he would be completely fine. In addition, Xie Lian was really insensitive toward pain. No matter what kind of pain it was, he would just let it hurt and hurt until he became used to it.

By the time he finished talking, San Lang finally lifted his head. The swelling on the back of Xie Lian’s hand had gone down. From the corner of San Lang’s lips, a thread of blood trickled down. Gaze extremely cold, he moved his eyes toward the Scorpion-Tailed Snake that laid on the ground.

Suddenly, a ‘bang’ sound rung out mournfully. That purplish-red snake had exploded into a pool of purplish-red minced meat.

When everyone saw how the snake had exploded, they were all taken aback. However, no one knew who did it. Although none of the blood had spattered onto them, they were still terrified.

TianSheng still remembered that Xie Lian had also been stung. He anxiously said, “This gege, were you also stung? What are you going to do?”

Xie Lian tightened the bandage around his wrist. With a smile, he said, “You’re a good kid. I’m fine. We’ll follow the original plan. Next, we will enter the city to look for the Kindred Moon Herb.”

A merchant hastily said, “If you guys are going, then what about us? Should we also send someone too?”

Xie Lian replied, “There’s no need for you guys to go. The ancient land of Ban Yue Kingdom is likely very dangerous. An additional person is merely another accident just waiting to happen. After we find the Kindred Moon Herb, we will bring it back and give it to you before the twenty-four hours are up.”

Several merchants exclaimed in succession, “Re…Really?! We would be too grateful….”

“How could we have the nerve……”

However, the moment Xie Lian spoke his next line, the expressions of the merchants immediately changed. He said, “In order to find the ancient kingdom of Ban Yue as quickly as possible, I would have to inconvenience you all to temporarily lend us this brother so he may show us the way. ”

The one he wanted to borrow was naturally A-Zhao. If one said the expressions present on the merchants’ face earlier were gratitude and joy, now the majority bore a look of hesitation.

Xie Lian also thoroughly understood why. The merchants were worried that once they took their guide and found the Kindred Moon Herb, they’d run off on their own. Even if A-Zhao had a conscious and decided to not run off with them while being willing to come back, much time would be delayed.

Yet, the merchants were indeed unwilling to go to the “With every passing, half the party goes missing” damnable place. This made them torn between the two choices.

This was human nature, and was thus understandable. Xie Lian immediately added, “But I’m afraid there may be other things that might come attack you all. So, Fu Yao, stay behind and look after them.”

Since they were leaving someone here, most of the merchants finally nodded and said, “Alright, as long as A-Zhao is willing to go with you.”

Therefore, Xie Lian turned towards A-Zhao and said, “Young friend, are you willing to help us? It’s alright even if you aren’t.”

A-Zhao nodded and replied, “I can. Although, the ancient kingdom of Ban Yue is actually rather easy to find. If you follow and walk down this direction, you will be able to find it.”

After they said their goodbyes to the merchants, A-Zhao walked at the very front to lead the group. Xie Lian, San Lang, and with Nan Feng followed closely behind him.

Having walked for some time, Xie Lian opened his mouth to ask, “A-Zhao, do Scorpion-Tailed Snakes frequently appear in this area?”

A-Zhao replied, “Scorpion-Tailed Snakes don’t appear often. This is also my first time seeing them.”

Xie Lian nodded and didn’t inquire further. In reality, he had lived near Ban Yue Kingdom for a period of time in the past, but this was also his first time encountering a Scorpion-Tailed Snake. Therefore, there was nothing wrong with A-Zhao’s answer.

Nan Feng had sensed something to some extent. He quietly asked him, “You suspect A-Zhao?”

Xie Lian also lowered his voice and said, “In any case, we already brought him out, so just keep an eye on him.”

If it was in the past, the first one to speak to him would inevitably be San Lang. But at the moment, although Xie Lian was unsure if it was because of what had happened earlier, the young man’s expression was still unpleasant. San Lang wouldn’t utter a single word. Xie Lian also didn’t know what was wrong. Since he was unable to talk to him, he could only continue to walk.

The four of them walked in the vast Gobi for slightly less than an hour. The storm had long gone, so without any wind or sand blocking their path, their travelling speed became awfully quick.

Gradually, they were able to make out a few hardy weeds that grew within the cracks in-between the sand and the rocks. It was until the sun had almost set when Xie Lian finally saw the ancient city emerging from the horizon.

This ancient city was difficult to spot because it was khaki in color, which blended in with the vast yellow sand that surrounded it. The city wall had crumbled, and there were a few sections that were buried amidst the yellow sand.

It was only after they had walked closer did they discover that the city wall was extremely tall. In fact, the tallest parts were more than thirty or so meters high, so i wasn’t difficult to imagine the wall in its former grandeur.

After they entered through the city gates, the four of them had officially entered the land of the ancient Ban Yue Kingdom.

Like always, the main street past the gates was wide and empty. Both sides of the street were filled with broken walls, dilapidated houses, and worn-out rocks and wood.

Perhaps repeatedly warning others had already become a habit, because A-Zhao said, “Everyone, be careful. Don’t wander.”

However, the other three naturally didn’t need him to remind them of this.

Probably due to the immense contrast between the ancient city of Ban Yue Kingdom and the one he had imagined, Nan Feng asked in disbelief, “This is Ban Yue Kingdom? How could it be so small? It can’t even be compared to a city.”

Xie Lian replied, “As a small desert kingdom, the bigger the oasis, the larger the kingdom. Even during its flourishing period, Ban Yue Kingdom consisted only of around ten thousand people. It truly is only this big. It had been alright when there was a lot of people around, and was even pretty lively.”

Nan Feng examined the area and said, “Defeating this kingdom was probably a matter that only took a couple of days.”

Xie Lian shook his head. “That hard to say. Nan Feng, don’t underestimate the people of Ban Yue. Although their population had only been around ten thousand people, there were always at least four thousand people in their army year-round. There were more males than females. Apart from the old and the sick and not counting the farmers, practically all the remaining men all joined the army. In addition, all the Ban Yue soldiers were all at least nine foot tall. Their personalities were also brave, fierce, and aggressive. While holding a wolf-toothed club, they still dared to charge forward even with a sword stuck in their chest. The soldiers of Ban Yue were extremely difficult to fight against.”

A-Zhao appeared to be slightly surprised. He glanced at Xie Lian and said, “This young lord seems to know quite a lot.”

Xie Lian kept smiling. Just when he was just about to casually spew some nonsense, Nan Feng spoke again, “What is that wall?”

What he had been referring to was an enormous, yellow dirt building in the distance.

It didn’t seem quite right to depict it as a building, because strictly speaking, it could only be described as four, giant earthen walls encircling something. There was no door and no roof, just four walls, and each was taller than thirty meters high. Stuck on top of the walls was a pole with something attached, and it was so battered that it wasn’t clear if it was a flag or something else that fluttered in the wind. For an unknown reason, the sight sent chills into one’s heart.

Xie Lian turned around, took one glance and said, “That’s the sinner’s pit.”

Just the name made it obvious that it wasn’t going to be anything good. Nan Feng frowned, “Sinner’s pit?”

After muttering to himself for a moment, Xie Lian replied, “You can think of it as a prison. It’s a place specifically for imprisoning criminals.”

Nan Feng said, “It doesn’t even have a door, how are they imprisoned? Don’t tell me they just tossed them down from the top?”

Xie Lian had been considering whether or not to reply when San Lang suddenly said, “They’re thrown in. In addition, what’s waiting for them at the bottom are poisonous snakes and scorpions, as well as starving beasts.”

Xie Lian felt himself relax when he finally heard San Lang speak. He glanced at him, but San Lang’s gaze only met his for a moment before the boy quickly averted his eyes.

Nan Feng cursed, “How the hell is this a prison, this is practically torture! It’s too cruel! If the Ban Yue people aren’t sick in the head, then they must be savages!”

Xie Lian massaged the space between his eyebrows. “Not entirely. Some of the Ban Yue people had been quite cute.”

At this moment, Xie Lian suddenly stopped speaking. While his eyebrows furrowed, he said, “Wait.”

The other three stopped walking. Xie Lian raised a hand and pointed. “Do you all see the pole at the top of the pit? Is that a person hanging from it?”

The sun had set and the night had fallen. Since they were also very far away from it, it had been difficult to tell what exactly was dangling from the pole. However, after they had walked a bit closer and saw the silhouette of the dangling object, it was obvious that it was a scrawny person dressed in black, clothes ragged and tattered. They were hung above the sinner’s pit, appearing rather like a worn-out doll as they were blown back and forth by the wind.

San Lang said, “It is.”

As soon as A-Zhao saw it was a person hanging up there, his face became slightly pale. This scene appeared extremely mournful and strange. Even someone as calm as A-Zhao couldn’t handle it.

At that moment, San Lang inclined his head a bit and quietly said, “Someone’s here.”

He wasn’t the only one to have noticed. Xie Lian had also heard the sound of very faint footsteps. Both sides of the street had dilapidated houses, so the four of them immediately dispersed to hide within them. 

Xie Lian and San Lang ducked into the same house, while Nan Feng and A-Zhao hid in the house across from them. After a short while, a female official dressed in white appeared at the end of the beaten road.

The woman wore light, flowy robes that were as white as snow, while a hossu rested in the crook of her arm. As she walked down the street, she glanced left to right with her very bright eyes.

Her expression made it seem as if this place was not a long abandoned ancient city, but a little garden she could visit whenever she liked. Not too far away from her was a young woman dressed in black. With her hands clasped behind her back, she slowly followed behind the woman in white.

The young woman wearing black had facial features that appeared rather cold. Her gaze was not unlike that of an unsheathed dagger, while her long hair was draped over her back. In fact, the woman herself seemed to emit a chilly aura. And although she had been walking behind the woman wearing white, no one would mistake her as an underling.

These two were precisely the people Xie Lian and his party had seen outside the little rundown building at noon.

At that time, these two had flitted past them. The figure of the one wearing black had been very tall, hence Xie Lian had been unable to discern whether they were male or female. Only now did he realize that the two of them were both females. The one wearing white could only be the Ban Yue Grand Tutor, but the one wearing black…..who could she be?

That Ban Yue Grand Tutor swayed the hossu about in a leisurely manner. “Where did those people run off to now? As soon as our attention slipped, they vanished. Do I really have to drag them out one by one to kill them?”

Xie Lian thought to himself, Sure enough, as soon as they entered the city, someone immediately began watching them. 

The woman in black walked forward. With an expressionless face, she walked past the woman dressed in white and said, “You can call your friends out to help you kill them.”

By ‘friends’, she could only be referring to the extremely deadly Ban Yue soldiers. The Ban Yue Grand Tutor laughed and said, “Ha ha ha! I don’t like asking other people, I only like to ask you. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

However, the woman in black didn’t leave her with any face. She icily said, “Being asked by you to come here and do these kinds of things isn’t anything to be happy about. Hurry up, let’s go.”

The Ban Yue Grand Tutor raised an eyebrow, although she indeed began walking quicker. The conversation between the two women made it seem as if their relationship were that of good, old friends.

These two definitely couldn’t be ordinary people, and the one dressed in black definitely couldn’t be someone with an obscure reputation. As someone who was familiar with the Ban Yue Grand Tutor, who could they be? A mysterious person from the same sect? Or perhaps, there had been a queen regnant or a female general in Ban Yue Kingdom?

While he rapidly analyzed this, Xie Lian also held his breath. He definitely didn’t want to be discovered right now. At present, it seemed that the Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s temper was very unpredictable.

What if she saw them and in a moment of excitement, called forth a horde of the legendary Ban Yue soldiers who were rumored to be nine foot tall and wielded wolf-tooth clubs? If that happened, they would have to fight for quite a while. And with only a twenty four hour deadline, losing even two hours only meant an increase to the danger.

But who would have thought, with Xie Lian’s luck, the more he didn’t want something to happen, the more likely it was to happen. As the woman in black walked past the front of their house, she suddenly halted. Following that, her perceptive gaze swept towards them.

The Ban Yue Grand Tutor had already walked ahead a few steps. However, upon seeing her companion stop, her body began leaning back. “Hey, are we going or not?”

The woman in black said, “You, move back.”

The Ban Yue Grand Tutor said, “Oh” before retreating. The woman in black had been just about to raise her hand, when suddenly, an explosive noise erupted from across the street!

On the other side, the house Nan Feng and A-Zhao had been hiding in suddenly collapsed. As the house caved in, the buildings beside it followed. In a split second, sand and dust billowed onto the street.

A black shadow suddenly leapt out of the sand and then expelled a stream of powerful flames towards the Ban Yue Grand Tutor. And yet, the woman in black had already turned around and stood protectively in front of the Grand Tutor. Her left hand still remained behind her back, while her right easily contained the stream of flames in her palm with a grab. Then, she immediately shot the flames back.

That shadow was also incomparably quick and nimble like a rabbit. After it dodged the attack by a hair, it left behind a cloud of dust as it escaped into the distance. The Ban Yue Grand Tutor gave chase, but the one in black glanced towards Xie Lian and San Lang once before she followed after her.

This entire event all happened in a single instant. Xie Lian inwardly said, “Good job, Nan Feng!”

He knew that the Nan Feng who had been hidden across the street must have seen that they were about to be discovered. Thus, he created a diversion and helped lead the enemies away. And since Nan Feng had been the only one who jumped out, A-Zhao must still be in the house.

After he confirmed the three of them were far enough away, Xie Lian pulled San Lang out and called, “A-Zhao, you’re still alive, right? Are you hurt?”

Instantly, a muffled sound came from beneath the collapsed house. “……I’m fine.”

Reassured, Xie Lian replied, “As long as you’re alright.”

Although he trusted Nan Feng had used utmost precision and control when he collapsed the house and had thus left enough space for a living person, in the end, Xie Lian still needed to confirm this to assuage his worries.

With a single hand, Xie Lian lifted a rotten roof beam. After a while, A-Zhao crawled out from under the house with some difficulty. His entire head and face were covered in dust, but after he patted himself off, he recovered his usual tranquil expression.

Xie Lian said, “Now there’s only three of us left. Nan Feng is being chased, so we need to act even faster. A-Zhao, do you know where the Kindred Moon Herb is located at?

A-Zhao only shook his head and said, “My apologies. I only know the location of the ancient city. I haven’t actually came here before, so I’m unclear as to where the Kindred Moon Herb grows.”

To the side, San Lang said, “It is said that the Kindred Moon Herb likes shade. It’s a small plant with incredibly delicate roots, yet its leaves are comparatively large. Its shape is similar to a pointy peach. You might as well look for it around a tall building.”

Xie Lian thought it over. “A tall building?”

On the topic of tall buildings, within a kingdom, what kind of building could be larger and more magnificent than the imperial palace? In addition, the legend said that after the banquet, the queen had plucked a leaf from the Kindred Moon Herb. This could also serve as evidence that the Kindred Moon Herb indeed grew within the palace.

The three surveyed the area. Sure enough, at the center of the city, they saw a palace built from stone, dirt and wood.

From afar, the palace looked quite imposing. However, from up close, the decline of the building was only slightly better than the houses on the streets. After passing through the main gates of the palace, there was a large garden. Perhaps it hadn’t been a garden but a plaza or something similar in the past. But now, after years of neglect, only a patch of land remained, one filled with all sorts of greenery.

That was right. What they were currently stepping on was not sand, but mud. It was probably the last vestiges of the oasis.

In fact, the Kindred Moon Herb was probably hiding amongst the rich vegetation. Xie Lian said, “Let’s be efficient. We only have twenty four hours. However, you must be very careful of the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes.”

A-Zhao agreed, while San Lang also gave his consent with a hum. Thus, the three of them all lowered their heads to search.

However, Xie Lian suddenly recalled that the Ban Yue Grand Tutor could control Scorpion-Tailed Snakes. Therefore, after traipsing onto her home territory, the Scorpion-Tailed Snakes should have made more appearances. Yet, after they entered the ancient Ban Yue Kingdom, they hadn’t seen another Scorpion-Tailed Snake.

He straightened his back and was just about to speak. However, at this moment, his hand suddenly touched something cylindrical.

Xie Lian bowed his head to take a look. It was a human leg.


	23. A Thousand Miles in a Step, Lost Within a Sandstorm Pt.2

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Xie Lian withdrew his hand, momentarily speechless. He had discovered that every time he saw or bumped into something in the dark, more often than not he would be the one who completely didn’t react to the frightening scene, while the other party would have already started screaming. However, wasn’t he the one who ought to be the most afraid?

The shrubs and grass in the garden had grown to be very tall and dense. Just now, there had been someone who was stealthily hiding among the plants, before Xie Lian ended up touching their calf.

That leg retracted at lightning speed. Rustling noises came from the bush before someone yelled, “Don’t attack, don’t attack! It’s me, big brother!”

Xie Lian stared. Indeed, he had truly not expected that the one screaming ‘don’t attack, don’t attack’, would actually be the thick-browed, big-eyed youth—TianSheng. When TianSheng saw Xie Lian had recognized him, he let out a relieved sigh.

However, Xie Lian didn’t heave a sigh of relief and instead became even more vigilant after he realized who the teenager was. After raising an arm, he held it in front of himself protectively before saying, “Didn’t you stay behind with the others at the previous place to watch over the injured people? Why are you here? Are you truly TianSheng?”

For him to appear under these circumstances, it was more likely that this was something else; a fake passing themselves off as TianSheng. However, TianSheng hurriedly said, “It’s me! It’s really me, and I’m not the only one here. Three uncles also came here with me! They’re right inside, if you don’t believe me, just take a look!”

He pointed towards the inside of the palace. Indeed, not much time had passed before three people came running out of the dilapidated palace. These guys were precisely some of the people from the group of merchants. When they saw Xie Lian, the three looked collectively startled before appearing embarrassed.

Xie Lian sighed, and only then did he stand up. As he dusted off the hem of his white clothing, he asked, “What’s going on, you guys?”

When he asked this, all of the embarrassed merchants stayed silent. After quite a while, Tian Sheng mumbled, “Not long after you big brothers left, Uncle Zheng’s poison flared up again. It was really serious, and we……didn’t know when you would return. We were worried that you might not be able to find it, or that you would come back too late. A-Zhao ge had said before that we would be able to find the Ban Yue Kingdom if we followed that road. We thought that it would be possible to find it faster if there were more people helping, so we also came over…….”

No matter how they explained, the main idea was that they had regretted it. Maybe they were afraid that after Xie Lian and his companions found the Kindred Moon Herb, they would take A-Zhao and slip away. Or perhaps, they just didn’t feel reassured and ended up chasing after them.

Xie Lian was also completely capable of imagining how Fu Yao would become too lazy to stop them if he had been unable to convince them to stay. It simply wasn’t possible to stop obstinate people who refused to listen to advice and rushed toward their own deaths.

Xie Lian helplessly said, “You guys are truly too courageous. It’s not like you don’t know what could be in this city, or what could happen here, yet you guys still dared to come?”

It could be assumed that even TianSheng knew their actions clearly meant they didn’t trust Xie Lian, so he felt a bit guilty. Earlier, the reason he hadn’t dared to make a noise when he was lying in the shrub was probably because he felt embarrassed. TianSheng said, “Sorry. The worth of someone’s life is beyond value. Once we panicked, we just…..”

One couldn’t do anything about it. When it came to matters of life and death, growing another heart was also human nature. In addition, being willing to risk their lives in order to retrieve the herb for someone else was also considered as good comradery.

It wasn’t good for Xie Lian to say anything more about this. Thus, he rubbed his forehead and said, “You guys are truly fortunate to not encounter anything on your way into this ancient city. That being said, how did you know you needed to look for the Kindred Moon Herb near the palace?”

Tian Sheng scratched his head and said, “We didn’t know where to look. However, in the red clothing-gege’s story, didn’t the Empress pick the Kindred Moon Herb? Empresses aren’t capable of casually leaving the imperial palace, so I thought we should try our luck at the palace.”

Xie Lian thought that this kid’s brain worked pretty well, since he actually got it right. At that very moment, San Lang, who had been standing by his side, suddenly spoke up, “Found it.”

When Xie Lian turned around to look, San Lan raised his hand. What he held in his hand was a bluish-green leaf that still had some roots attached to its bottom.

The leaf were only about the size of an infant’s palm, and the roots were incredibly slender. It was shaped like a peach, and the end of the leaf were pointed. There was simply no need to ask A-Zhao for confirmation—Xie Lian intuitively thought that it had to be the Kindred Moon Herb from the legends.

But before Xie Lian managed to speak, San Lang had already seized his injured hand.

When it had been stung, that hand had swelled to the point of scaring people. But after San Lang helped him suck out the poison, although the poison hadn’t been neutralized, the swelling was reduced by a lot.

At this moment, San Lang supported Xie Lian’s wounded hand with one hand, and held the Kindred Moon Herb with his other. He closed his five fingers around the herb. While he appeared to not have exerted any strength, when he opened his fist, the leaf had broken down into a pile of green powder.

San Lang took the pile of green powder and spread it thinly onto the back of Xie Lian’s hand. Immediately, a gentle and slightly cool feeling slowly expanded from the site of the wound. Xie Lian said, “San Lang, many thanks.”

However, San Lang did not reply. After he finished applying the medicinal herb, he let go of Xie Lian’s hand.

Xie Lian kept feeling as if there was something strange about the mood existing between the two of them, but he also didn’t know how to ask about it. No matter how Xie Lian tried phrasing his words, they never seemed suitable.

However, the other people could not sense the subtle mood. Tian Sheng eagerly said, “Big brother, do you feel a bit better? Does this herbal medicine work?”

Xie Lian snapped out of his daze and said, “I feel a lot better, so this ought to be the correct plant.” 

When they heard his words, all the merchants became very excited. They all said, “Hurry, let’s keep looking.”

Before long, A-Zhao also raised his hand while holding a bunch of green leaves. He said, “I also found it.”

The Kindred Moon Herb leaves he was holding was much bigger compared to the small and pitiful leaf San Lang had just found. When the merchants took a look and saw that the shape and characteristics were all correct, they all rushed over. One after another, they exclaimed in pleasant surprise:

“There’s a large patch of Kindred Moon Herbs here, ah!”

“There’s so much!”

“Quickly, pick some extra!”

“If we pick a lot, can we sell them after we return?”

As the merchants busied themselves with picking the herbs, Xie Lian turned around and took a look at the back of his own hand. Despite having nothing to say, he forcibly found a topic and asked San Lang, “The field they found, weren’t you looking there before? Did you not discover it at the time?”

After he spoke, even Xie Lian himself felt that the question he asked was pointless. However, San Lang shook his head and said, “You shouldn’t use the herbs from there.”

Finding it odd, Xie Lian asked, “Why?”

Who would have thought that before San Lang managed to answer, they would suddenly hear a miserable shriek, “Go away!”

Everyone was stunned. Actions pausing, they asked one after the other:

“Who is the one screaming?”

“I wasn’t the one ah!”

“It wasn’t me either……”

Once again, they heard that voice mournfully say, “Go away, you’re stepping on me……”

This time, everyone finally noticed—the voice was coming from underneath their feet!

In the span of a split second, the people gathered at the patch of Kindred Moon Herbs all scattered. Xie Lian had already long become used to taking the lead at times like this—when other people retreated, he would advance forward. Thus, he walked over to where the scream had originated from. After reaching out with one hand, he slowly pushed aside the dense branches of the shrubs.

The moment he pushed aside those branches, everyone’s breathing all ceased.

What had been buried under the bushes and within the mud, was shockingly a man’s face.

There was actually a living person buried in the patch of soil here, and he was buried to the point that the only thing left outside was his face!

This scene truly looked incomparably strange. Immediately, the few merchants had been scared to the point that they began huddling together and screaming.

Once again, Xie Lian began comforting them in an extremely skilled manner, “Don’t panic. Everyone, calm done. It’s only a face, it’s nothing alarming. After all, doesn’t everyone have a face?”

That face chuckled. “Did I scare you guys? Sigh……I also frequently scare myself.”

Xie Lian half-squatted down before he began carefully scrutinizing the face buried in the mud.

This was a man’s face. When he wasn’t smiling, it appeared very flat, and when he did smile, there were many wrinkles. One couldn’t tell whether he was old or young, and one couldn’t say whether he was ugly or beautiful.

Xie Lian stared at the face for quite a while, but he still couldn’t make out what this face was. Without a better option, he had no choice but to directly ask, “Who are you?”

The face buried in the mud questioned back, “Who are you guys?”

Xie Lian said, “A caravan just passing by.”

The face buried in the mud sighed before saying. “A caravan just passing by? Once, I was also from a caravan just passing by. Although, that is a matter from fifty or sixty years ago.”

After he said this, the entire affair seemed even more abnormal.

This person had actually been buried in the lands of an abandoned ancient city for fifty or sixty years. Could he still be considered a human?

Trembling with fear and trepidation, a merchant asked, “Then……Then why would Mister……Why would Mister be here……ah?”

The face buried in the mud coughed a few times, before he wrinkled his face and said, “I……I was captured and brought here by a Ban Yue soldier. I wasn’t careful and accidentally entered the city and got captured. They ended up burying me here, so I would become fertilizer for these Kindred Moon Herbs……”

It turned out that these Kindred Moon Herbs had grown using living people as its fertilizer. No wonder they looked so plump and healthy!

Some merchants immediately threw away the Kindred Moon Herbs they had been holding. They felt that holding those herbs was the same as touching corpses. Even Xie Lian couldn’t help but lower his head to look at the back of his wounded hand. However, San Lang said, “There were no problems with that herb.”

No wonder San Lang hadn’t picked any of those plump and healthy Kindred Moon Herbs even when he had clearly searched around this piece of land. Xie Lian was afraid that San Lang had long seen the face buried in the mud and had guessed that these herbs were all raised with this kind of fertilizer.

Thus, San Lang had completely ignored these things before he turned around and left. Following that, he helped Xie Lian apply the medicine only after he had found a clean herb that had grown up normally in a remote corner.

Xie Lian said, “San Lang is so considerate. I truly thank you.”

San Lang shook his head. He still appeared calm and collected.

Ever since Xie Lian had been poisoned by the Scorpion-Tailed Snake before they entered the ancient Ban Yue Kingdom, San Lang’s attitude had continued to be like this. When the two of them had been living together before, San Lang had always been calling him ‘gege’. However, now he never called him that.

Other than the times San Lang had helped Xie Lian suck out the poison and apply the medicinal powder, it seemed as if San Lang was avoiding contact with Xie Lian’s body as much as possible. It truly made Xie Lian feel extremely baffled. Since he couldn’t make sense of San Lang’s attitude, even he felt a bit uneasy.

At this moment, the face buried in the mud began speaking again. “It’s already been many years since I’ve seen living people. You guys……you guys, come closer and let me get a better look, alright?”

Everyone stared at each other in dismay. They unanimously thought that it would be better if they didn’t do what he had asked. After a while, when the face buried in mud saw how no one had replied, he muttered, “What, no one is willing to? Sigh……what a pity……”

Xie Lian turned his head and asked, “Why is it a pity?”

The face buried in the mud said, “Ever since you guys came in, there is a matter I care a great deal about. I want to use my own eyes to confirm this matter before telling you guys. That’s why I told you guys to stand closer and let me take a better look, because I want to carefully get a good look of every one of you.”

Xie Lian asked, “What matter?”

The face buried in the mud smiled strangely, “You guys, don’t be afraid if I say it……I saw someone among you fifty years ago.”

The moment he said this, the hair on everyone’s backs began standing on end.

If it was someone the face buried in the mud had seen fifty years ago, nowadays they had to be at least sixty or seventy years old. However, among the few people here, even the oldest didn’t look over forty years old. How could this be possible?

Unless……that person wasn’t ‘human’!

Xie Lian’s gaze began sweeping over everyone’s face. Starting from A-Zhao, and ending with TianSheng, he saw slightly startled faces, frightened faces, bewildered and stupefied ones. Everyone’s reactions all conformed to reason. If he had to point out someone who hadn’t reacted according to common sense, then it could only be San Lang, who hadn’t responded at all. However, when it came to this teenager, no reaction was probably the normal one for him.

Xie Lian turned his head and asked, “Who are you talking about?”

The muscles on the face buried in mud twitched a few times, before he revealed an incomparably eerie smile. He appeared as if he was doing his utmost to make himself look even a little bit more reliable, but it still couldn’t conceal the sinister smile seeping out from the bottom of his heart. He said in a mysterious manner, “You……You, come a bit closer, and I’ll tell you.”

When the face had first made its claim, Xie Lian had deemed him eighty-percent trustworthy. However, after this line, he deemed him only fifty-percent trustworthy.

How was one to know if this monster wasn’t just trying to coax someone close, before suddenly revolting?

Xie Lian naturally wouldn’t listen to the face. After getting up, he withdrew. The face buried in the mud hastily said, “You guys truly don’t want to know who that person is? He will end up killing all of you, just like how he had ended up killing all of us!”


	24. Obscure Hua Lian 1 Fall Into the Sinners’ Pit at Night Pt.1

The more he acted like this, the more Xie Lian thought it was dangerous. He said, “Everyone, retreat. Don’t approach it, and don’t pay attention to what it says.”

Everyone rushed to follow his words and hurriedly dispersed. The face buried in the mud gave a forced chuckle as he said, “Sigh, don’t leave. Why are you being like this? I’m also human; I won’t harm any of you!”

Xie Lian thought to himself, “You’re overthinking it. In this condition, you do not resemble a human at all!” 

Who would have thought that right at this moment, a sudden change would occur. A merchant probably thought that no matter what, they still had to bring back some medicinal herbs to save people. Thus, that merchant took a few furtive steps forward before he stooped down to pick up the Kindred Moon Herbs he had just thrown away in fright. 

The eyeballs of the face buried in the mud rolled around before they fixated on the merchant. Following that, a bright light flashed through the eyes of the half-buried face. 

Xie Lian mentally thought ‘what bad luck’ as he rushed over and yelled, “Don’t pick them up! Come back!”

However, it was already too late. The face buried in the mud suddenly opened its mouth, before a strip of scarlet slipped out.

It was an extremely long tongue!

Xie Lian grabbed the back of that merchant’s collar before he repeatedly withdrew. Unfortunately, the thing that flew out of the half-buried face’s mouth was incomparingly long. Accompanied by a squelch, it slipped into the merchant’s ear!

Xie Lian felt the body he was holding undergo a fit of violent trembling. That merchant released a short, blood-curdling scream as his four limbs spasmed incessantly before his knees hit the ground. Swiftly, the long tongue scooped out a huge, bloody lump from the inside of the merchant’s ear, before it withdrew back into the mouth of the half-buried face.

The half-buried face laughed while chewing. He chewed until his entire mouth was practically dripping with blood, while he laughed until his deafening voice nearly overturned the roof of the dilapidated imperial palace. In a screech, the face said, “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Deliciousdeliciousdelicious, deliciousdeliciousdelicious! Deliciousdelicious!! I’ve been starving to death, I’ve been starving to death!”

This voice already sounded both sharp and shrill, while both the face’s eyes were completely bloodshot. He truly looked extremely disgusting!

This person had been buried here for over fifty years. They had long been assimilated by this demonic kingdom, and had thoroughly become something completely inhumane. 

Xie Lian let go of the merchant’s collar which he had been holding with his right hand. He was just about to chop this disgusting thing in half, when he suddenly heard the half-buried face screech again, “General! General! They’re here! They’re here!”

Following that, everyone heard a howl that was even more ferocious than a wild beast’s. A black shadow dropped down from the sky, before landing heavily in front of Xie Lian.

The moment this black shadow fell onto the ground, it almost appeared as if the ground had trembled from his landing. And by the time he had slowly stood up, everyone became shrouded within the immense shadow cast by his figure.

This ‘person’, was truly too tall.

His complexion was as dark as iron, while his facial features seemed vicious and aggressive. In fact, his face appeared similar to that of a beast’s. Armor covered his stomach and was also draped across his shoulders. As he was over nine chi2 tall, rather than say he was human, it was better to describe him as a gigantic wolf that could walk upright. And behind him, he was followed by one, two, three……more than ten ‘people’ jumped down from the roof of the imperial palace.

Each and every one of these people were tall and strong. The build of their bodies were similar, and atop their shoulders, all of them carried cudgels that were densely covered in sharp wolf teeth. It created an illusion that a pack of wolves had transformed into people. After they landed on the ground, they completely surrounded everyone in the garden and made them feel as if they were encircled by immense iron towers.

Ban Yue soldiers!

Waves of black spiritual energy emanated off of these soldiers. Without doubt, they had long been deceased. 

Xie Lian’s entire body was stretched taut. If things took a turn for the worst, Ruoye would immediately be ready to move.

However, when those Ban Yue soldiers saw them, they didn’t immediately pounce on them and attack. Instead, they let out howling laughter that shook the heavens. Then, they began using a tribal language to loudly converse with each other. 

That language sounded quite strange. The pronunciation seemed tricky, and there was a lot of tongue-rolling involved. It was precisely the language of Ban Yue Kingdom.

Although two hundred years had passed and Xie Lian had already forgotten almost all of his Ban Yue vocabulary, it could be considered that he had just reviewed it with San Lang at the General’s burial mound. In addition, with how these soldier’s voices were as loud as a large bell, and how their enunciation was crude while their vocabulary was simple, it wasn’t hard for Xie Lian to understand them.

He heard all the Ban Yue soldiers call the first soldier ‘General’. As they conversed with each other, Xie Lian also heard words like ‘drag them away’ and ‘don’t kill them for now’. 

He breathed in deeply, before he softly said, “Everyone, don’t panic. For now, these Ban Yue soldiers won’t kill anyone. It seems like they want to bring us to another place. By all means, don’t act blindly without thinking. I can’t guarantee that I would be able to beat them, so let’s act according to the circumstances.”

Xie Lian only needed a single look at these soldiers to know they would be hard to deal with. Each of them were coarse-skinned and thick fleshed. Even if he had Ruoye on hand, Xie Lian was afraid that strangling a single one of them would take up a decent amount of time. Since a dozen had arrived simultaneously, they wouldn’t be easy to handle. In addition, several ordinary people were also present at the scene. Without a better option, the next best thing they could do would be to quietly watch for changes. 

San Lang didn’t say anything, and everyone else didn’t really have an opinion. Even if they wanted to act blindly without thinking, they didn’t know how to act blindly without thinking, so they could only tearfully nod their heads. Only the half-buried face was still screaming, “General! General! Let me go! I helped you detain the enemies here, so let me go back home! I want to go back home!”

Ever since he saw this group of Ban Yue soldiers, the face became extremely excited. He kept shrieking while sobbing, and there were some clumsily pronounced Ban Yue vocabulary mixed in with his shouts. The face ought to have casually learned them during the fifty or sixty years he stayed there as fertilizer. 

When the nine chi tall man who was called ‘General’ saw how there was something in the soil that kept twisting around and screaming, it seemed that he also thought the face was very disgusting. The general hammered down his cudgel embedded with wolf teeth, and the numerous sharp and pointy teeth pierced the half-buried face’s head. 

The half-buried face screamed once. Since the sharp teeth were already lodged into the front of the head, when the general lifted his cudgel, he ended up completely uprooting the half-buried face. Ironically, the general took the face out of the dirt, realizing the face’s ‘let me go’ wish.

However, what was connected to the face’s neck after it broke through the ground wasn’t a person’s body at all. Instead, it was a thickly-boned skeleton!

A few of the merchants who saw this frightening scene were scared into yelling. The face that had been half-buried in the mud dropped off of the teethed cudgel and was completely covered in blood. When the face saw its own body, it seemed like he had also been frightened. He gasped and asked, “What is this? What is this?!”

Xie Lian reminded him, “This is your body.”

It was easy to comprehend after thinking about it. This person had been buried in the desert sand for fifty to sixty years. The flesh of his body had long been transformed into nutrients for those Kindred Moon Herbs. He had been entirely consumed until the only thing remaining was a mere skeleton.

The face that had been buried was still unwilling to accept the truth. He asked, “How could this be possible?? My body isn’t like this. This isn’t my body!!!”

His voice sounded incomparably mournful. The scene looked frightful yet lamentable, causing Xie Lian to shake his head. However, San Lang sneered before saying, “You can’t bear to see your own body right now? If that’s the case, what was the thing that had came out of your mouth? You think there was nothing wrong with it?” 

The face that had been buried in the mud immediately retorted. “What’s wrong with it?! It’s only……It’s only a bit longer than an ordinary person’s tongue, that’s all!”

Both the corners of San Lang’s eyes and the tips of his eyebrows expressed his derision. He said, “Nn, not bad. Only a little bit longer. Ha ha.”

The face that had been buried in the mud said, “That’s right! It’s only a little bit longer! And it’s only like this because for these past several years, for the sake of surviving by eating flying and crawling insects, it slowly got longer and longer. That’s why it became like this!”

When the face had first been buried into the soil, perhaps he had still been alive. And in order to keep on living, he would desperately stick out his tongue to eat all sorts of insects. Gradually, the face stopped being a human, so that tongue grew longer and longer. And the ‘food’ he ate also changed from flying and crawling bugs to things that were even more frightful.

However, because he had always been buried in the soil, the face hadn’t been able to see the state of his body for all these years. He was simply incapable of accepting, nor was he willing to believe, that he was no longer human. The face that had been buried in the mud strived to explain, “There are also people whose tongues are relatively long!”

San Lang smiled. When Xie Lian saw this, he felt an indescribable chill. The smiling face of this youth gave people a grim feeling, as if he was on the verge of peeling off someone’s face.

San Lang asked, “Do you believe you’re still human?”

After he was asked this question, it seemed as if the face that had been buried in the mud felt a sense of danger. He suddenly became jittery and said, “Of course I’m human. I’m human!”

As the face yelled this, he expended much effort in an attempt to move the hands and feet that had already turned into white bone. It seemed like he wanted to crawl on the ground. 

Perhaps it was because he had finally emerged from the dirt, but the face felt genuine happiness. Howling with laughter, he said, “I can go back, I can go back now! Ha ha ha ha ha ha……”

“Cough!”

His laughter had been too ear-piercing, so it finally irritated that Ban Yue general. In a single stomp, the skull of the face that had been buried in the mud instantly shattered. His shrill cries of ‘I’m human’ would also never occur again.

After that ‘General’ crushed the annoying face that had been buried in the mud, he shouted something at the soldiers in a loud voice. In response, the crowd of soldiers brandished their cudgels embedded with wolf teeth and roared a few times at the group of people. Then, the soldiers began herding the people toward the exit of the imperial palace.

Xie Lian was at the very front, and as always, San Lang followed right behind him. Even though they were being forcibly escorted by a group of fiendish Ban Yue soldiers, the youth’s footsteps were as measured as always, as if he was just taking a stroll. 

Ever since earlier, Xie Lian had been trying to find an opportunity to talk to him. After walking for a while, he noticed how the Ban Yue soldiers began once again chatting with one another. Since they didn’t seem to be paying too much attention to them, Xie Lian quietly said, “They call the leading Ban Yue soldier ‘General’, I wonder what kind.”

Sure enough, San Lang still answered him the moment Xie Lian asked a question. He said, “When Ban Yue Kingdom was destroyed, there was only one general. His name translated into classical Chinese is ‘Ke Mo’.” 

Xie Lian repeated, “Ke Mo?”

This name was indeed quite strange. San Lang said, “That’s right. Reportedly, his body had been delicate and frail when he was young, so he was frequently bullied. As a result, he vowed to become strong. He developed his strength by grinding down a rock, and so he earned a name like this3.”

Xie Lian couldn’t resist thinking, “If that was the case, they could have also called him ‘Da Li’4…...”

San Lang spoke up again. “The legends proclaim Ke Mo as Ban Yue Kingdom’s bravest and fiercest General in all of history. With a height of nine chi and extraordinary strength, he had been the Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s faithful supporter.”

Xie Lian asked, “And he is still a supporter after his death? Is he bringing us to the Ban Yue Grand Tutor right now?”

San Lang replied, “Perhaps.”

If there were even more Ban Yue soldiers there, how would they escape? In addition, how was Nan Feng doing after he had drawn away those two? They had also gotten a hold of the Kindred Moon Herb, but how were they supposed to deliver it into the hands of the poisoned within twenty-four hours?

Xie Lian contemplated these questions as he walked. He also noticed that General Ke Mo was leading them somewhere increasingly remote. In the end, he brought them to a place that was at the very edge of Ban Yue Kingdom, and only then did General Ke Mo come to a halt.

Xie Lian stopped walking and raised his head to look up. An incomparably tall and yellow wall stood in front of him, bearing a resemblance to that of a giant person. 

Their destination was unexpectedly the Sinners’ Pit.

Although he had once lived near Ban Yue Kingdom for a period of time, Xie Lian hadn’t actually entered Ban Yue City that much. Of course, he had also never approached the Sinners’ Pit. Now that he was seeing the Sinners’ Pit from up close, his heart had inexplicably sped up.

There was a staircase on the outside of the yellow wall. While they slowly climbed up the simple and crude staircase, Xie Lian glanced down. As he constantly surveyed his surroundings with his eyes, he finally understood why his heart had sped up.

He wasn’t trembling with fear because he associated this place with one that used torture. It also wasn’t because he was worried that the soldiers would push them down into the pit. Instead, his heart palpitations were purely a response to him sensing the presence of a spiritual array. 

Someone had deliberately set up an extremely powerful spiritual array using the terrain and layout of the Sinners’ Pit. 

And this spiritual array only had one purpose——to make the people who fall down into the pit, be eternally unable to climb back up again!

What the so-called ‘unable to climb back up again’ meant was that, even if someone threw down a rope or put up a ladder and the person at the bottom grabbed hold of this one opportunity to live to climb up, when they got halfway to the top, the array would activate and punt that person down again. 

Without batting an eyelid, Xie Lian placed a hand onto the wall. He brushed his hand across a small section of the wall and roughly made out what the wall was composed of. Xie Lian discovered that although this wall seemed to be made out of earth or clay from afar, it was actually created from incomparably hard stone. In addition, there was probably some kind of a spiritual incantation used to fortify the wall, making it inevitably hard to break through.

When they got to the top of the staircase, they arrived at the roof of the Sinners’ Pit. What was located above the ledge of the yellow wall was a sight to behold at first glance. One could only use the word ‘shocking’ to describe the scene.

The entire Sinners’ Pit was precisely created by the enclosure of four tall walls. Each of those tall walls were more than thirty zhang5long and twenty zhang tall, and every wall was four chi thick. Towering above all, they looked extremely awe-inspiring. 

What the four walls were encircling was a huge, four-sided room. However, there weren’t any platforms to stand on across the top of the Sinners’ Pit, or even a horizontal beam.

It was already evening, and one completely couldn’t see the bottom of the immense dark pit. From time to time, only waves of cold air and the smell of blood wafted up from the bottomless darkness.

Everyone was walking on the ledge of a tall wall, and it didn’t have any protective fences whatsoever. Since they were walking at a high altitude where the ground was at least ten zhang away, not many people dared to look down. 

After walking for a while, the people at the front came across an erected tall pole. A corpse was hung on the pole, and it was precisely the dead body they had previously seen from the ground. That corpse appeared quite small, and was the body of a black-clothed young girl. Her clothes were worn out and in tatters, while her head hung low. 

Xie Lian knew that the pole was specifically used to hang the sinners the soldiers wanted to humiliate. Usually, the jailors would tear away the sinner’s clothing, before hanging them up all naked. Then, they would let the convict starve to death or dehydrate to death. 

After the sinner died, their corpse would sway with the wind, be exposed to both the sun and rain, and would ultimately air-dry. While their limbs and body rotted, their flesh would also fall down. The appearance of their dead body would be extremely unsightly.

Since the corpse of this young girl still hadn’t rotted, not much time should have passed since her death. Perhaps she had been a resident who lived in the vicinity. But these soldiers actually hung a little girl’s body in a place like this. They were truly extremely savage and cruel. 

When A-Zhao, TianSheng, and the others saw this scene, their complexions all paled. They came to an immediate halt and didn’t dare to go forward. Fortunately, Ke Mo had also stopped walking. He turned around and faced the Sinners’ Pit, before he made a long and loud yell.

Xie Lian thought it was strange. ‘Why did he need to yell like this?’

The next moment, he received the answer to his question.

Appearing to be the response to Ke Mo’s loud shout, a snarl came from the bottom of the dark pit. It sounded like the roar of a tiger, a wolf, a monster, or even a tsunami, but the sound was multiplied by a hundred times and was deafening. Everyone on the ledge of the wall was practically jolted by this roar until they could barely remain standing. Very clearly, Xie Lian heard the slight rustling sound of the falling debris and stone that had been unlodged by vibrations of the snarl. 

Only criminals were thrown into the Sinners’ Pit. Could it be? Was the thing responding to Ke Mo the souls of the deceased sinners?

At this moment, Ke Mo once again yelled into the pit. Xie Lian listened carefully. This time, Ke Mo hadn’t roared something incomprehensible, and it hadn’t been a curse either. On the contrary, it ought to have been encouragement.

In fact, Xie Lian was very certain that he heard the words——‘fellow brothers’.

After Ke Mo finished roaring, he yelled something at the soldiers detaining Xie Lian and the others. This time, Xie Lian completely understood what Ke Mo had ordered.

The General said, “Just drop two people down there.”

Although everyone else didn’t understand what Ke Mo had said, they could probably roughly guess what the soldiers were intending to do. As a result, their complexions simultaneously turned white. 

When Xie Lian saw how they were all scared to the point they could barely remain standing, he moved a step forward and softly said, “Don’t be nervous. If something happens, I’ll face it first.”

If by chance, someone had to be thrown in later, then Xie Lian would just brace himself and go down to take a look first. In any case, only the stereotypical vipers, ferocious beasts, malicious spirits or demons would be at the bottom of the pit. Since Xie Lian wouldn’t die from the fall, or die from being beaten, or die from being bitten or poisoned, as long as there wasn’t any lava and raging flames, or Corpse Transformed Poisoned Water1, then he wouldn’t become too unsightly even if he jumped down.

In addition, Xie Lian still had Ruoye. Even if the spiritual array hindered him from using Ruoye to climb back up, if these Ban Yue soldiers threw someone else down, he would still be able to catch them. 

Ke Mo had said ‘bring the others away and keep an eye on them’. That meant the other people would be relatively safe for the time being. After all, catching live people in the Gobi desert wasn’t an easy thing to do. They couldn’t just let them be all eaten at once, so the soldiers probably wanted to hoard them and let them be eaten one at a time. 

Xie Lian had thought things through. However, who would have thought that there would be someone in their group who couldn’t keep their cool.

Other than Xie Lian and San Lang whose expressions hadn’t changed, everyone else were all trembling with fear ever since they had climbed to the top of the Sinners’ Pit——especially A-Zhao. 

Perhaps it was because he thought death was certain and that it would be better to try and desperately fight, A-Zhao fisted his hands and suddenly revolted. With a bowed head, he charged at Ke Mo!

It appeared that A-Zhao had the determination to take down Ke Mo with him to death. In other words, he was charging at him in hopes of knocking Ke Mo down into the pit with himself. And despite Ke Mo’s tall stature that could be likened to an iron tower, even he retreated three steps in the face of a collision that encompassed one’s last resolution before death. 

Since Ke Mo nearly lost his footing, he was immediately angered. After roaring once, he flipped over a hand and pushed A-Zhao down. 

When they saw the youth fall down into the dark and deep pit, everyone screamed. Xie Lian also yelled, “A-Zhao!”

At this moment, a burst of cheers distantly resonated from the bottom of the dark pit, along with some extremely cruel tearing noises. Those sounds could be likened to the result of evil spirits falling over each other in their eagerness to savagely feed. One knew just by hearing this that the youth named A-Zhao didn’t have a chance to return alive.

Even Xie Lian didn’t expect things to develop like this. He was extremely stunned.

Originally, he had been suspecting that A-Zhao was precisely that Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s subordinate, and that he was specifically enticing passers-by into entering the ancient Ban Yue Kingdom. He had also harboured suspicions that the one the half-buried face had mentioned when he claimed to have ‘saw someone among them fifty years ago’ was also A-Zhao. However, Xie Lian hadn’t anticipated that this youth would be the first one among them to be killed. After jumping down like this, how could there be a possibility for A-Zhao to survive?

Was it possible that he was just feigning his death? However, Xie Lian and the others were already all captives of the Ban Yue soldiers. If A-Zhao truly had been the Ban Yue Grand Tutor’s subordinate, he would be completely capable of tearing down his disguise now that they had the upper hand. A-Zhao could have acted high and mighty, so why would he have to do something as superfluous as feigning his death in front of them? There would be absolutely no meaning in doing something like that.

But why did A-Zhao charge at Ke Mo? Wasn’t this also the same as him meaninglessly throwing his life away?

As Xie Lian pondered over these theories one after another in confusion, the Ban Yue soldiers began once again looking for the next live person to push down. Ke Mo raised a hand and pointed at TianSheng. 

A Ban Yue soldier extended his large palm as he came forth to grab him. TianSheng was immediately scared into yelling, “AH! SAVE ME! Don’t grab me! I’m……” 

Xie Lian had no time to continue thinking. He stepped forward and said, “General, wait a moment.”

When he heard Xie Lian open his mouth and speak Ban Yue Kingdom’s language, a shocked expression appeared on Ke Mo’s dark face. He waved his hand and stopped that soldier before he asked, “You know how to speak our language? Where are you from?” 

Xie Lian gently replied, “I come from the Central Plains.”

He actually didn’t mind lying and saying he was from Ban Yue Kingdom, but this lie wouldn’t be that feasible. Xie Lian wasn’t sure how fluent his Ban Yue language was or how much he had picked back up, so he would inevitably expose his secret while conversing with Ke Mo. In addition, his appearance made it obvious just where he had hailed from. The people of Ban Yue Kingdom extremely disliked those who lied and deceived others. If they saw through his lie, the consequences would be even more severe. 

Ke Mo said, “The Central Plains? You’re a Yong’an descendant?” 

Xie Lian replied, “No. Yong’an Kingdom has long been wiped out. There are no longer any more Yong’an people.” 

However, in the eyes of the people from Ban Yue Kingdom, as long as someone was from the Central Plains, they were more or less the relative or descendant of the Yong’an people. 

Ban Yue Kingdom had been destroyed by Yong’an Kingdom’s army. The moment he was told where Xie Lian came from, Ke Mo’s dark face instantly turned furious. The crowd of soldiers also began clamoring about. Their yells were completely composed of curses and belittling words. 

Xie Lian listened to them. They only said things like ‘despicable’, ‘liar’, ‘throw him down’——superficial things that didn’t hurt nor tickle. 

Ke Mo said, “Our kingdom has already faded away two hundred years ago in the Gobi desert. You are not from our kingdom, but you know our language. Who the hell are you?” 

Xie Lian couldn’t help but glance at the calm and composed young man standing beside him. He thought, if worst came to worst and he became unable to continue explaining, he would just have to brace himself and yell ‘San Lang, save me’. 

Xie Lian prepared himself to begin talking rubbish. However, at that very moment, another earth-shattering roar came from the bottom of the pitch-dark pit. 

It appeared that whatever was down there had already finished feeding on A-Zhao’s corpse. However, they were still hungry, and thus they used this sound to convey their craving for fresh flesh. Ke Mo waved his hand, looking as if he was about to grab TianSheng again. Xie Lian said, “General, let me go first.” 

Ke Mo definitely had never heard someone ask to go first in this place. His eyes widened and looked like bells as he asked in astonishment, “You want to go first? For what reason??”

Xie Lian naturally couldn’t reply and say it was because he wasn’t scared. Thus, he chose an answer that conformed with the norms of society. “General, these are merely innocent merchants just passing through. They even have a child amongst them.” 

When Ke Mo heard this, he sneered and said, “When your Yong’an army massacred my kingdom, did you never think about how there were also many innocent merchants and children here?”

It had already been two hundred years since Ban Yue Kingdom was destroyed. Nowadays, both sides had long transitioned into a new dynasty. However, these soldiers were the dead whose time had long came to a halt. Their hatred would not weaken following the start of a new regime. 

Ke Mo spoke again, “You are very suspicious. I want to ask you some questions, so you cannot go down. Throw someone else in!” 

In that case, there was nothing to be done. Xie Lian was prepared to see things through to the end and make it his priority to jump first, when he saw San Lang walk forward a step. Heart jumping, he turned his head. 

That young man had crossed his arms. With an indifferent gaze, he thoughtfully sized up the deep Sinners’ Pit. 

A bad premonition sprung up unbidden in Xie Lian’s heart. “San Lang?” 

When he heard Xie Lian call him, San Lang turned his head. He smiled faintly and said, “Everything’s fine.” 

Once again, the youth took another step forward. He was already standing at an extremely dangerous place. Both Xie Lian’s heart and his eyelids were jumping about wildly. “Wait. San Lang, stop moving.” 

At the very edge of the Sinners’ Pit, the hem of the youth’s red clothes flew about vigorously in the wind. San Lang gave Xie Lian a glance before smiling once. He said, “Don’t be afraid.”

Xie Lian said, “You……retreat first and come back. If you come back, then I will stop being scared.”

San Lang replied, “There’s no need to be worried. I’ll leave for a bit first. We’ll be able to see each again very soon.” 

Xie Lian said, “Don’t……”

He had yet to finish talking when that youth once again took another step forward. While maintaining his posture with his crossed arms, he made a gentle leap and instantly disappeared into the unfathomable depths of the darkness. 

The split second San Lang had jumped, Ruoye had flown off Xie Lian’s wrist. It turned into a streak of white2 in hopes of coiling around that young man’s figure. However, the speed of San Lang’s fall was too quick, so much that the white silk hadn’t even been able to grab a corner of San Lang’s clothes before it dimmed down and returned to Xie Lian. 

Xie Lian immediately knelt beside the tall walls and yelled into the Sinners’ Pit, “SAN LANG!!!”

No response could be heard. 

After that youth jumped down, nothing could be heard!

On the tall wall beside him, many Ban Yue soldiers began shouting one after the other. All of them sounded extremely shocked. 

What was happening today? In the past, one had to capture someone and throw them down to make them actually fall down. But today, everyone was taking turns and fighting over the chance to jump down. And if you didn’t let them jump, they would actually jump down themselves? 

General Ke Mo shouted loudly at his soldiers and told them to calm down. And when Xie Lian saw how Ruoye hadn’t been able to grab onto San Lang, he didn’t have enough time to think everything through. Instead, he merely recalled Ruoye before he threw himself into a leap toward the Sinners’ Pit.

But who would have thought that although his body was already flying through the air, the back of his collar would suddenly tighten? Xie Lian ended up being suspended in midair.

He turned his head to take a look. It turned out that when General Ke Mo saw how he had also wanted to jump down, the General unexpectedly reached out and grabbed Xie Lian to prevent him from falling!

Xie Lian thought to himself, “It’s fine if you want to come. In fact, it’s better if we go down together.”

This idea prompted him into action. Like a white snake, Ruoye suddenly coiled around Ke Mo’s arm and climbed up. With a ‘swish’, it wrapped itself around the General’s entire body.

Ke Mo saw how this thin white silk was strange and unfathomable, and even appeared to have cultivated its own consciousness. In response, the black veins on his forehead bulged, while the flesh of his muscles also grew a few times bigger. It seemed as if he had wanted to forcibly snap Ruoye, who was coiled around him.

Xie Lian was stuck in this deadlock with Ke Mo when suddenly, he saw something exceedingly strange out of the corner of his eye. 

The corpse that had been hanging from that long pole suddenly moved and slightly raised its head. 

The crowd of Ban Yue soldiers also noticed how the corpse had moved. One after another, they started to yell before they waved their teeth-embedded cudgels to strike the corpse.

But after that black-clothed girl had moved, she somehow managed to untie the string that had been hanging her from the pole. Suddenly, she jumped off the pole and then rapidly rushed over. 

She could be likened to a black breeze that blew over from the top of the tall wall. Both rapid yet demonic, all the soldiers were instantly tormented by this nefarious wind until they were swaying from side to side. Accompanied by miserable shrieks, many soldiers fell down from the tall wall. 

When he saw how his soldiers were swept down from the wall and into the Sinners’ Pit, Ke Mo began furiously cursing. His curses were extremely vulgar, and probably used a decent amount of street slang. Xie Lian hadn’t understood everything he said, but he did understand one sentence. 

What Ke Mo had been cursing was, “It’s this slut again!”

The next moment, Ke Mo was unable to continue cursing, because Xie Lian had suddenly exerted some strength to drag the General down into the Sinners’ Pit with him. 

The Sinners’ Pit—the one you can never climb out of after falling into it! 

As they fell, Ke Mo released a bellow that nearly shattered Xie Lian’s eardrums. Xie Lian had no other choice but to recall Ruoye, before he casually gave Ke Mo a kick so that the distance between them would be a bit greater and his ears could be protected. 

Following that, he compelled Ruoye to glide up, in hopes that it could grab something Xie Lian could use as a cushion. At least then, he wouldn’t land in an extremely miserable fashion. 

However, this Sinners’ Pit was built in a way that was difficult to deal with, and that spiritual array was also very powerful. Not only was Ruoye unable to climb somewhere high, there was also nothing it could grab onto inside the four tall walls. Just when Xie Lian thought he was once again going to become a human pancake—the kind that won’t get scrapped off of the ground for at least a couple days—like how he did countless times in the past, suddenly, amidst the darkness, a silvery light flashed past. 

The next moment, a pair of hands gently caught him. 

With incomparable precision, that person had caught him head-on. It was practically as if this person had been guarding this place and was specifically waiting there to catch him. One hand had wound around Xie Lian’s back, hugging his shoulders, while the person’s other hand supported his knees. In a relaxed and easy manner, the person had managed to completely disperse the fierce momentum that had been created during Xie Lian’s fall. 

Xie Lian had just fallen from a great height before coming to a sudden stop, so he still felt a bit faint and a little dizzy. He subconsciously lifted his hand and then tightly embraced the other person’s shoulders. “San Lang?” 

Darkness surrounded them, and it was impossible to see anything. So of course, there was also no way for him to see who this person was. However, Xie Lian still blurted out those two words. 

The other person did not reply. Xie Lian touched that person’s shoulders and chest a few times. Wanting to verify this person’s identity, he asked again, “San Lang, is that you?” 

He didn’t know whether it was because they had arrived at the bottom of the pit, but the smell of blood in the air here was strong enough to make people swoon. Xie Lian didn’t know what possessed him either, because he actually began to casually feel up that person. It was only until he had touched the person’s hard Adam’s apple did he suddenly snap out of his daze. 

Xie Lian thought, ‘I’ve sinned, I’ve sinned, what am I doing?’ He immediately retracted his hand before asking, “It’s San Lang, right? Are you alright? Were you wounded?” 

After quite a while, he finally heard that young man’s reply. From a place extremely close to him, the youth’s deep voice resonated over. “I’m fine.” 

Xie Lian didn’t know why, but he felt that compared to San Lang’s usual tone, there was a subtle difference in his current voice.


	25. Touching and Embracing in the Deep Dark Pit

Xie Lian said, “San Lang, are you really alright? How about you put me down . ”

But San Lang said, “Don’t get down . ”

Xie Lian paused in confusion, and wondered, “What’s going on? Is there something on the ground?”

Both arms were still holding tightly onto him, and it didn’t seem like San Lang was about to release him anytime soon . Xie Lian was about to raise his hand to push lightly against San Lang’s chest, but before he could move, he vividly recalled how after he had been caught during his fall, he had carelessly felt the youth up all the way to his Adam’s apple . Xie Lian furtively withdrew his hand .

Really, he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him . After hundreds of years, Xie Lian still could not recognize what ‘awkward’ was unless smacked in the face with it .   
In his heart, he heard a tinny voice admonishing him to conduct himself with decorum and keep his wayward hands to himself.

At this moment, a howl filled with rage and grief echoed resoundingly from the other side of the pit . 

“What happened to all of you!?”

It was spoken in the Ban Yue dialect . And judging from the voice, it belonged to General Ke Mo whom Xie Lian had dragged down with him . Being already dead, the fall did not kill him . He was merely embedded into the ground in a man-shaped dent from the forceful impact .  
As soon as he crawled out, he began bellowing, “What happened? Soldiers! My brothers, what happened to you?!”

When he had stood high above the pit and shouted down a rallying call, a hundred thousand voices had responded to him, the pitiful wails and terrible cries echoing up from the deep abyss like the departed souls of hell, raging to be fed . But right now, besides his furious and anguished roars, all Xie Lian could hear was deathly silence . And despite being so close to him, not even San Lang’s breathing nor the sound of his heartbeat could be heard .

Xie Lian held his breath, and realized why it felt so wrong .  
That’s right, he was practically plastered against San Lang, but he could not hear him breathing or his heart beating at all!

Ke Mo screamed in rage, “Who killed you, who killed you!”

When Ah Zhao fell in, Xie Lian had heard the terrible sounds of gnawing from below . But after San Lang jumped down, everything had been quiet . Who else could have killed them?

Ke Mo immediately came to the same conclusion as well . “Damn you for killing my men, you’re dead!”  
Although it was too dark to make anything out, Xie Lian could keenly feel the danger heading towards them from the side . His body shifted as he said, “San Lang, be careful!”

But San Lang replied, “Don’t worry about him . ” With his arms still wrapped around Xie Lian, his feet shifted lightly, and his body seemed to have turned around .

In the dark, Xie Lian could hear something tinkling in soft, silvery chimes, sweetly musical and pleasant to the ear, yet sharp and clear . It was fleeting and faded after a moment . Ke Mo had lunged over to grab them, but found himself grasping empty air . He spun around and made to attack again, but each time, San Lang would deftly spin away on light feet, dodging with breathless ease . Xie Lian’s hand again moved subconsciously, climbing up to clasp tightly on to San Lang, gripping the clothing on his shoulders .

However, the arms around Xie Lian remained just as perfectly steady as before, while San Lang nimbly dodged and weaved . Only, from time to time, Xie Lian could feel something icy cold and hard on those arms pressing painfully against him . He couldn’t help staring blankly . In the pitch blackness, silvery flashes of light flickered and darted around . The sound of sharp blades whistling through the air came from all directions, mixed with Ke Mo’s enraged howls .

The Ban Yue general seemed like he ought to have suffered heavy injuries, but he remained dauntless and refused to back down . In a fit of anger, he came at them again . Xie Lian called, “Ruoye!”

In answer, the ribbon of silk flew out . With a ‘pa’, it wrapped around Ke Mo and lifted him into the air, flipped him over, then smacked him to the ground . Ke Mo dragged himself back to his feet and snarled, “The both of you! Two against one, despicable!”

Xie Lian thought, You’re trying to kill us, who cares if its many versus one . Whether its despicable or not, right now our lives are more important, we’ll discuss this again after we’ve pummeled you to death . San Lang laughed softly . “You won’t stand a chance even if it’s one on one . You don’t have to step in . ” The last sentence was directed at Xie Lian, his tone low and somber, the previous mockery in his words at Ke Mo fading away completely . 

Xie Lian answered, “Okay . ” Then he proceeded to remind the other again . “San Lang, it’s better if you let me down, I’ll only be hindering you . ”

But San Lang said, “It’s fine, don’t get down . ”

Xie Lian could not help himself . “Seriously now, why not?” It can’t be that this youth liked to carry people around when he got into fights right? Even if you look down on your opponent, you don’t have to do it this way .

Th youth only replied to him with one word . “Filthy . ”  
“……”

Xie Lian least expected to be given this sort of reason, and with such earnestness to boot . He felt it was a little funny, and also felt something a little strange which he could not put into words . It was a faint, fluttering heat in the pit of his stomach . “You can’t carry me around like this forever,” he reasoned .  
San Lang said, “Not necessarily . ”

Xie Lian had only spoken in jest, but San Lang had sounded dead serious, leaving him at a loss for words . While they were speaking, within the deep darkness, Ke Mo had begun to launch another assault with unyielding tenacity . San Lang clearly had both arms around him, yet was somehow able to beat Ke Mo back again and again . As he was driven back, Ke Mo shrieked furiously, “That slut sent you……”

His tirade was interrupted by a loud, booming ‘dōng‘, and an immense body toppled down with an earth-shaking rumble . This time, he was smashed directly into the ground and did not get back up . Xie Lian listened intently, then said, “San Lang, don’t kill him first .

I fear we still need him to tell us how to get out of here . ”

San Lang obediently halted and stood motionless . “I’m not trying to kill him . He would not have lasted this long otherwise,” he said .

The Sinner’s Pit descended into deathly stillness again .

After a short moment of silence, Xie Lian said, “San Lang, what happened down here, was your doing?”  
Even though nothing could be seen due to the suffocating darkness, but the all pervasive reek of blood and death, coupled with Ke Mo’s previous wild display of grief and ire, was enough for him to clearly delineate what had happened here . After a long pause, that Xie Lian finally heard San Lang’s reply .

“Yes,” he said .

The answer came as no surprise . After a while, Xie Lian sighed . “How should I say this……”

He mulled over his choice of words, and finally mustered up a heartfelt appeal, “San Lang ah, if you come across this kind of pit again in the future, you absolutely must not jump in willy-nilly . I kept trying to stop you but you jumped in anyway . I really don’t know what to do with you ah . ”

San Lang seemed to choke a little, evidently surprised by his words .

When he spoke again, his voice sounded a little strange . “You have nothing else to ask?”

Xie Lian said, “What do you want me to ask?”

San Lang said, “For example, whether or not I am human . ”

Xie Lian rubbed at the space between his brows and replied, “I don’t think there’s any need to ask this . ”

San Lang asked, “En? No need?”

Xie Lian said, “En . Is it necessary? Human or not, it doesn’t really matter . ”

San Lang said, “Oh?”

Xie Lian shifted up a little from the crook of his arms, explaining, “When meeting people, it is not up to us to decide if we will be kindred spirits . It is determined by our respective natures, and not by our lots in life . If I like you, I would still like you even if you were a beggar; but if I loathe you, that feeling would not change even if you were the Emperor . Is this not how it should be? It is but the simple truth . Which is why, there is no need to ask . ”

San Lang laughed and said, “En, what you said makes perfect sense . ”

Xie Lian said, “Truly?” He also laughed along . They laughed and laughed, but there was the feeling that he had overlooked something . And then it finally hit him .  
He had been unexpectedly held in San Lang’s arms all this time, and the worst thing was, somehow or rather, he had unconsciously gotten used to this position!  
{T/N: Yea, get comfy in that princess carry . }

This was really getting too much for him . Xie Lian gave a light cough, and said tentatively, “By the way, San Lang ah, we can chat about this again next time . It’s really for the best if you put me down now, alright?”  
San Lang seemed to be smiling as he said, “Just a moment . ”

As he carried Xie Lian, he seemed to be moving down towards a direction, before gently lowering him . Xie Lian’s feet touched something solid, and he finally stood on firm ground . “Many thanks . ”

San Lang gave no response . After expressing his gratitude, Xie Lian lifted his head and looked upwards .  
The moon shone bright and round against the backdrop of the deep blue night sky, breathtakingly beautiful to behold . Unfortunately, the view was framed by the four sides of the walls in a square, bringing to mind the story of the frog in the well .

{T/N: The Frog in the Well is a Chinese idiom that refers to a narrow-minded person who doesn’t see the larger world around them . From the frog’s point of view, all it could see was the piece of sky that was not blocked by the walls of the well . }

Xie Lian tried to send Ruoye up again, and the silk cloth flew out . As expected, when Ruoye was midway up, it was blocked by an invisible barrier of force and bounced back . It could advance no further .  
San Lang said, “There is an array set up around the Sinner’s Pit . ”

“Yes, I know . I was just giving it a try, else I wouldn’t feel at ease,” Xie Lian replied . “I wonder how the rest of those up there are faring . Will the maiden in black also sweep them all down here?”

He told San Lang about how the maiden who had been strung up from the long pole suddenly came to life and swept a whole squadron of soldiers down . When he was done, Xie Lian took a few steps forward but stepped on something that felt suspiciously like an arm . He flailed for a moment before quickly regaining his balance, but San Lang continued to support him . 

“Be careful . ”

He added lightly, “I told you, the ground is filthy . ”

Xie Lian finally understood what he meant by ‘filthy’ . “I’m fine . I wanted to use Palm Flame to look around and plan for our next step . ”

San Lang fell silent . At this moment, from somewhere distant, Ke Mo’s voice rang out, “You are working for that slut, all of our nation’s ghosts who died unjustly will curse you!”

Xie Lian turned around and spoke in the Ban Yue dialect, “General Ke Mo, exactly who…… are you talking about?”

General Ke Mo screamed back hatefully, “You dare to ask? It’s that demon!”

Xie Lian said, “Is it the female official wandering about in the city?”

{T/N: 女冠 (nǚ guān) – Female official was the term used by Sakhyulations . A nǚ guān is a female Taoist . Click for pic . }

Ke Mo spat fiercely . It seems that Xie Lian was correct . He continued to ask, “Are you not loyal to the Ban Yue Grand Tutor?”

Ke Mo was stirred into a frenzy again by his words . “I will never be loyal to her again! I will never forgive that slut!”

He immediately launched into another vile, lengthy diatribe . Ke Mo was so worked up that his speech was launched at rapid fire speed, so much so that after a long while Xie Lian wore a stupefied expression on his face . He could not understand a single word . He whispered furtively, “San Lang, San Lang . ”

San Lang answered promptly, “He’s swearing up a storm . He says that the Tutor betrayed their country, opened the city gates, allowing the soldiers from the Central Plains to massacre everyone within the city, and threw his brothers-in-arms down into this hell hole . 

He wants to hang her to death again a thousand times, no, ten thousand times . ”

Xie Lian broke in hurriedly, “Wait, wait!”

How could this be, there are clearly two gaping holes in this narrative!

First of all, the ‘female official wandering about in the city’ that Xie Lian mentioned, was referring to the woman clothed in white . But now, Ke Mo kept cursing at the Ban Yue Grand Tutor as a ‘slut’ and claims that she pushed his brothers into this hell hole . Earlier, when the maiden in black had swept his officers and soldiers down from the wall, Xie Lian had heard Ke Mo raging at her . Adding on to the fact that Ke Mo wanted to ‘hang her to death again a thousand times’—-Xie Lian suddenly realized that they don’t seem to have been talking about the same person at all .

{T/N: Recap, in the previous chapter when the maiden in black attacked, Ke Mo had said “It’s this slut again!”}  
Secondly, the Ban Yue nation was betrayed by the Ban Yue Grand Tutor?!

Xie Lian interrupted him to say, “General, the Ban Yue Grand Tutor you were talking about, is the girl in black who was hanging from a pole over the Sinner’s Pit?”  
Ke Mo replied, “Who else if not her?!”

“……”

So the maiden in black who was swinging like a corpse from the pole was the real Ban Yue Grand Tutor!  
But if that was the case, then just who was the female official in white who said she wanted to drag them out to kill them, whilst strolling idly within Ban Yue’s city walls? And who is the young woman in black who was accompanying her?

The maiden in black possessed incomparably strange martial arts, she was capable of sweeping tens of soldiers down from the wall in the blink of an eye in a single, powerful sweep . Why would she be hanging over the Sinner’s Pit?


	26. The Stage Preceptor of Ban Yue

The longer Xie Lian listened, the odder he found it to be . 

And the more he thought about it, the more confusing it became . In the end, he spoke up, “General, if I may ask……”

But Ke Mo refused him angrily, “Stop asking! After killing my soldiers you still want to talk? I won’t answer anymore, come at me!”

San Lang said, “I was the one who killed them, he did nothing . You can answer him, then come and fight me . ”

He certainly sounded very reasonable . Ke Mo spat, “You are all lackeys sent by her, it’s the same thing!”

Xie Lian spoke quickly, “General Ke Mo, aren’t you misunderstanding something . Our purpose for coming here to the Gobi desert was to root out Ban Yue’s State Preceptor , how could we have been sent by her??”

{T/N: 国师 (Guó shī) – lit . Teacher of the State . The title was originally created in 1260, the first year of Kublai Khan’s enthronement . In 1270, the title was renamed as Imperial Preceptor (帝师 – Dì shī) . The role of the imperial preceptor was serving as the emperor’s chaplain, teacher and consecrator and, more generally, teaching, writing, translating and editing . This was originally translated as Grand Tutor by Sakhyulations . }

When he heard that they were here to get rid of the State Preceptor of Ban Yue, Ke Mo fell silent . After a while, he said, “If you were not sent by her, why did you kill all my soldiers?”

Xie Lian replied, “Isn’t it obviously because you tried to chuck us down here, and we had no choice but to act in self-defense?”

Ke Mo snorted, “Nonsense, I did not chuck you down . I even grabbed hold of you just now . It was the two of you who insisted on jumping down yourselves!”

Xie Lian said obligingly, “Yes yes yes, we wanted to jump in ourselves . General, we are now all trapped in this pit together, how about putting aside our differences for now . Why did the State Preceptor of Ban Yue open the gates to allow the army to massacre the city?”

Ke Mo refused to listen to reason, and continued nursing his grievances . “The both of you are too despicable, you ganged up on me . ”

Xie Lian said helplessly, “I only thrashed you once, really . I didn’t do much . ”

To be honest, he doesn’t actually mind being accused as underhanded or despicable or whatnot . If the situation calls for it, he’s not above leading a hundred people to gang up on one person, much less two against one . One one one? Hah, no thanks . But earlier, San Lang clearly had the upper hand even while carrying him around, and even told Xie Lian that he didn’t have to step in . But Ke Mo somehow leapt to the conclusion that he would have won in a one on one fight . Xie Lian was quietly upset on San Lang’s behalf . 

But based on Ke Mo’s temperament, using words would be more persuasive than brute force . Xie Lian can coax him, slow and easy, no problem .

However, San Lang obviously had no patience to spare . “It’s best if you answer him, for the sake of your soldiers,” he drawled .

Ke Mo said, “You’ve already wiped them out, using them to threaten me is useless . ”

San Lang replied, “But the bodies are still here . ”

Ke Mo seemed to be still trying to drag his way up . He asked warily, “What do you want to do?”

San Lang said, “That depends on you . What do you want me to do?”

As Xie Lian listened, he could already imagine the way San Lang’s eyes would be curved as he continued, “Do you want them to be well and healthy in their next lives, or do you want them to be reborn looking like a slab of bloody paste?”

Ke Mo was dazed for a moment, then comprehension hit him . “You?!”

The people of the Ban Yue nation observed strict funeral rites . They believed that the state of the bodies of the dead would reflect their appearances at rebirth . For example, if the body was missing an arm, this person would have a malformed arm in their next life .

If the bodies in this pit were really pulped into bloody paste, wouldn’t they be better off not being reborn?  
Ke Mo was a Ban Yue citizen through and through, it ought to scare him . Sure enough, they could hear him grinding his teeth from the other side in the dark . In the end, he said grudgingly, “Don’t touch them! They were all valiant soldiers . They were already unfortunate enough to have been stuck in this Sinner’s Pit for so many years . I don’t know if your killing them could be considered as having set them free at last .

But they should not be dishonored any further . ”  
He hesitated, then asked, “You’re really here to kill Ban Yue?”

Xie Lian replied gently, “My word of honor . Know thyself, know thy enemy . A thousand battles, a thousand victories . The past deeds of Ban Yue’s State Preceptor are not well known to outsiders . General Ke Mo has worked with her before, hence I hope you can shed some light on her so that we may have a clue on how to go about . ”

{T/N: An idiom from The Art of War . Full quote: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles . If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat . If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle . ”}

Perhaps it’s because they were facing a common enemy, or perhaps he had no way of climbing out of the abyss after falling in . Ke Mo sat on top of the mountain pile of corpses of his soldiers, disheartened, and seemed to temporarily shelve his enmity . “You don’t know why she opened the city gates to allow the Yong’an people in? It’s because she wanted to take revenge on us . She hates the Ban Yue nation!”

Xie Lian said, “Why would she hate the Ban Yue nation? Isn’t the Ban Yue’s State Preceptor a Ban Yue citizen?”  
Ke Mo replied, “Yes, but not exactly . She is of mixed-blood, half of her is of the Yong’an race!”

“Ah……”

It turns out that Ban Yue’s State Preceptor had a Ban Yue mother and a Yong’an father . And in this frontier, prejudices ran high, both countries loathed each other . The husband and wife from different tribes did not have it easy, and after several years, the Central Plains man could no longer endure that sort of life . He left the border and returned to the bustling and prosperous nation of Yong’an .

Although the couple had mutually agreed to part, not long after, the Ban Yue woman died from pent up heartbreak . They left behind a seven to eight years old daughter with no one to look after her . She lived, constantly hungry . The parents had been held in contempt, their offspring was equally discriminated against . The Ban Yue people had tall and strong statures, both men and women were robust and held it as a standard of beauty . And this girl, being of mixed blood, stood out among the other Ban Yue children like a sore thumb, appearing particularly petite and frail . 

She was constantly bullied as a consequence, and grew more and more gloomy and eccentric . The children of Ban Yue refused to play with her, but some Yong’an children were willing to accept her .

When this little half-breed was ten years old, a revolt broke out at the frontier . The armies of both sides clashed, many lost their lives, and the little half-breed disappeared .

She had neither friends nor relatives in Ban Yue . Even after having gone missing for several years, no one cared to ask after her . However, everything changed when she returned .

In those past few years, she had actually trekked through the Gobi desert by herself and entered Yong’an .  
And who knows if she had had a fortuitous encounter, for when she came back, she possessed terrible, magical skills . Not only that, she was also capable of controlling Bai Yue’s most feared creature—- the venomous Scorpion-Tailed snake .

Her return was met with awe, admiration, and dread . The maiden’s disposition had not changed, she remained as gloomy and unapproachable as before .

There were plenty of Ban Yue’s citizens who had bullied her mercilessly before, but now she held an official post in the royal palace, serving as a high-ranking mage . If she still nursed grievances, wouldn’t she seek them out to cause trouble?

{T/N: 法师 (Fǎshī) – can refer to one who has mastered the sutras (Buddhism), or a wizard/sorcerer}

Xie Lian broke in, “I take it there were many Ban Yue people who attempted to slander her . ”

Ke Mo gave a ‘hmph’ . “More than that, they directly approached the imperial palace and beseeched the ruler to hang her, claiming that she was the devil sent by the Scorpion-Tailed snakes to destroy the Ban Yue nation . But they did not succeed . ”

Xie Lian attempted to guess, “She sentenced them all to hang?”

Ke Mo appeared scandalized . “You Yong’an people, are your brains all filled with nothing but murder and torture? No! I protected her . ”

Xie Lian said feebly, “I said I’m not from Yong’an…… never mind, forget it . ”

At that time, Ke Mo held the rank of General . Once, he traveled to the desert with his soldiers to launch an attack on some desert bandits, and brought the young court mage along with him .

The group of bandits were cunning, they built their den below the surface of the sand . There were heavy casualties on both sides during every encounter . Ke Mo was victorious, but the sand had collapsed on them in the underground den due to the fierce fighting . A violent sand-storm was heading their way, they could not linger . Ke Mo led some of his soldiers to withdraw, but the rest, including the mage, could not escape in time .

He led his men to safety, and they remained sheltered while waiting for the howling wind and sand to pass . Ke Mo then turned back, planning on excavating his soldiers to give them a proper burial . But when he arrived, he found the mage had single-handedly dug out a large underground cave, and had dragged the wounded soldiers in to shelter them from the storm .

The bodies of the deceased had also been dug out and neatly arranged . Everything had been done with her bare hands . When Ke Mo and his soldiers arrived, the mage was bloodied and tattered, waiting quietly for them at the mouth of the cave like a small, lonely little wolf .

Ke Mo said, “Since then, I thought she was very good and capable, and had absolutely no intention of harming the Ban Yue nation . I vouched for her, and I defended her against those with malicious designs . ”

Ke Mo himself had been weak and sickly as a child, and had suffered the same humiliation . He saw himself in the maiden, and sympathized with her . And so he paid her special attention, and found her to be an extraordinarily skilled mage . Thereupon he spoke highly of her, and strongly endorsed her for the seat of State Preceptor, and per the records written by later generations—-she became the Ban Yue nation’s most devoted State Preceptor .

Until another war erupted . The Yong’an nation had sent an army to encircle and attack the Ban Yue nation .  
Ke Mo said, “Both countries had been in a state of hostility for a long time . She set up an altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven, and said it was to call for protection for the soldiers of Ban Yue . ”

Thus bolstered, the soldiers were in high spirits and eager for blood as they defended the city gates . Arrows flew, boulders were hurled, boiling oil was poured, swords rose and fell for days on end .

And when the battle was at its most intense, the State Preceptor suddenly opened the city gates .  
With the gates wide open, tens of thousands of soldiers and armored horses poured into the city and began a frenzy of slaughter . In a flash, the whole city turned into a bloodbath!

Ke Mo had been locked in a bitter struggle with the enemy troops at that time . When he heard that the State Preceptor had opened the city gates, he went mad with rage . He fought dauntlessly, but was unable to turn the tides of fate .

Ke Mo ground his teeth . “At that time, I found out that she had long colluded with the enemy’s high ranking officials, and had made arrangements to let them in . But even if I was fated to perish in battle, before I die, I must kill that traitor!!! So I led a squadron of soldiers to the city gate’s tower, dragged her down, and hung her to death over the Sinner’s Pit . That’s her hanging from the pole!”

By the time the main forces left, the whole of Ban Yue had turned into a dead nation . The general and soldiers who fell in battle, and the State Preceptor who was hanged to death, were all unable to leave the ruins, but their hatred for each other endured .

Xie Lian mused, “So, you lead the Ban Yue soldiers under your command to search for the State Preceptor, and each time you find her, you will hang her over the Sinner’s Pit again?”

“Hanging her a hundred thousand times would not be enough!” Ke Mo sneered . “Because she would turn up here and there, seizing my undead soldiers, and throw them into the Sinner’s Pit! She set up a powerful spell array around the pit which only she can undo, anyone who falls in can never climb back up . I was betrayed by her, the soldiers died tragically in war, our grievances are heavy . Only the flesh and blood of the Yong’an people can dispel our hate, which would allow us to gradually depart . Otherwise we will never be free, doomed forever to wail at night!”

{T/N: 凶化 (Xiōng huà) – lit . turned fierce . Think fierce and malicious corpses . }

Xie Lian said, “So you’ve been incessantly grabbing people and throwing them down here to feed the soldiers, right?”

“What else would you have me do?” Ke Mo demanded . “Just sit and listen to them wailing and crying below?”

“The people you threw down were all brought here by you?”

“We cannot stray too far from Ban Yue . But luckily, the snakes here are fond of causing mischief . They like to crawl out of the ancient city and go around biting people . The caravans whose people were bitten would enter this city to look for the Kindred Moon herbs . ”

“That head which was buried by the imperial palace was your doing as well?”

“That’s right . The man who was buried in the ground there tried to rob the imperial palace of its treasures . But all of our country’s valuables have long since been looted by the Yong’an people centuries ago . ”

Xie Lian asked, “Why did you just bury him instead of throwing him down here?”

Ke Mo replied, “The herbs need fertilizer to grow well . Else how would we manage those snakes? We don’t want to run into those creatures either . ”

{T/N: The implication here is that those herbs act as a snake repellent as well, because XL has not seen any snakes since entering the city either . }

Something’s not right, Xie Lian thought .

If Ke Mo and his party were this dedicated to ensuring the Kindred Moon herbs grow well, to the extent of using a living man to fertilize the soil, it goes to show that even if they were no longer living, breathing men, their fear of the Scorpion-Tailed snakes had not diminished one bit .

So in fact, when they had been alive, they must have been even more terrified of the snakes . Since the Ban Yue’s State Preceptor was capable of controlling such a lethal weapon, how could she have been so easily captured at the city gate’s tower by the Ban Yue soldiers and subsequently hung to death?

According to Ke Mo, in these past two hundred years, they had been nabbing the State Preceptor over and over again, and had been stringing her up over and over again . Xie Lian felt that if he were in her shoes, with such a powerful weapon in hand, he would never allow any enemies near enough to harm him .

As for those Scorpion-Tailed snakes who liked to crawl out of the city to go around biting people, is it mere happenstance? Unlikely, it seemed more like they had been drawn out . So was this a deliberate action by the State Preceptor? Doesn’t it seem like she was making it easier for Ke Mo to kidnap people to feed his soldiers? Does this not contradict with the story of both sides being sworn enemies?

So are they just pretending to be enemies? But what’s the point in doing so?

And before the whole situation had dissolved into one mess after another, there is still one more riddle—- and that is the identities of the female official in white and her companion . Xie Lian decided to probe further . 

“General, when we entered the city earlier, we saw two female officials on the streets, one dressed in white and one in black . Do you know who they are?”

Before he could receive a reply, San Lang whispered, “Shhh . ”

Though puzzled, Xie Lian immediately fell silent . Intuition told him to look up .

Amidst the backdrop of the squared night sky, the half-moon continued to shine bright and cold .

However, by the side of the moon, he finally saw a person at a distance . The upper half of a small, black silhouette was stretched over the pit, peering downwards .

After looking for a moment, the half-figure suddenly became a full figure—– the person had jumped down .

As the person was hurtling towards them, Xie Lian could see their features clearly . This person, was the State Preceptor of Ban Yue who had been hanging from the pole over the Sinner’s Pit!


	27. The Ban Yue nation’s scrap collector recounts a fortuitous meeting

After the Ban Yue’s State Preceptor jumped down, she immediately spoke in the Ban Yue dialect, “Ke Mo, what happened?”  
Once she opened her mouth, her voice sounded far different from what Xie Lian had imagined it to be . Her tone was cold, but it could not disguise how young the speaker was . She sounded like an unhappy little girl talking to herself, instead of a callous and powerful evildoer . If it was not for the fact that Xie Lian has pretty good hearing, he may not have heard it clearly at all .  
Ke Mo snarled, “What happened? They’re all dead!”  
The State Preceptor asked, “How could they all be dead?”  
“It’s because you threw them all down here and trapped them in this cursed place!” Ke Mo spat .  
The State Preceptor ignored him . “Who’s here? There’s one more person . ”  
In fact, down here in the pit, besides Ke Mo, there should be two other ‘people’ . But San Lang has neither breath nor pulse, the State Preceptor of Ban Yue could not detect his presence at all . Additionally, it had been a chaotic mess above, there was no way to keep track of who had jumped down and who had run off . And so she thought only Xie Lian alone was present .  
Ke Mo said, “It’s them, they killed my soldiers, are you happy now? Everyone is finally dead!”  
The State Preceptor was silent for a long while . Suddenly, a burst of light flickered into existence . It illuminated a young girl in black holding a small flame in the hollow of her palm .  
The girl looked to be only seventeen to eighteen years old . She was garbed in plain black, and her eyes were deep and dark . She wasn’t ugly by any means, and was actually rather pretty . But she wore a deeply unhappy expression, and her forehead and the corners of her mouth bore some bruising . All this was thrown into sharp relief by the flames .  
Truly, if Xie Lian had not sought for confirmation earlier, no one would have expected this pale young maiden to be Ban Yue nation’s State Preceptor .  
The flames in her hand also illuminated their surroundings . At her feet, the bodies of the Ban Yue soldiers in armor littered the ground .  
Xie Lian could not resist throwing a quick look sideways .  
Because the flames summoned by the State Preceptor were rather small, most of the Sinner’s Pit was still hidden in the gloom . Their bodies were still mostly shrouded in shadow, but from the dim light cast by the small, flickering flame, Xie Lian could make out a figure dressed in red by his side .  
It may be a trick of the eye, San Lang has always been taller than him, but right now he seemed to be even taller than he remembered . Xie Lian’s gaze slowly traveled upward and paused when it reached the youth’s throat . Then, it continued up and hovered over the graceful jaw .  
The upper half of the youth’s face was still hidden in the dark, but the lower half seemed subtly different from before . It was still beautifully elegant, but the cut of his jaw seemed even more defined . As if having noticed Xie Lian’s gaze, the shadowed face tilted slightly, then turned towards him . There was a faint curve at the corners of the lips .  
Moved by the urge to get a better look, Xie Lian unwittingly took a step towards the youth .  
At this moment, they suddenly heard Ke Mo give voice to a miserable howl . If one had to guess, it was likely that Ke Mo has finally seen the devastation around him with his own eyes, and was struck with anguish . Xie Lian came to himself with a start . He turned around and made for the source of the noise . Ke Mo was cradling a head in his arms, and the State Preceptor was quietly listening to him wail and cry without any trace of emotion on her face . She merely nodded and said, “Good . ”  
The grieving general was furious . “Good? Good?! What the hell do you mean?!”  
The State Preceptor replied, “Because now we can finally be free . ”  
She turned around and pinpointed Xie Lian accurately in the dark . “You guys killed them?”  
Xie Lian said, “It was an accident . ”  
Ke Mo roared, “What baldfaced lies are you spouting?!”  
Xie Lian replied unabashedly, “Life is full of accidents ah!”  
The State Preceptor glanced at him, but could not make out his mien . She asked, “Who are you people?”  
Strangely enough, this sentence was spoken fluidly in the standard Han dialect . Xie Lian replied, “I am an official from Heaven . This is…… my friend . ”  
{T/N: Mandarin}  
Ke Mo could not understand them, but he could tell that they were not quarreling . He asked warily, “What are you talking about?”  
The State Preceptor’s eyes slowly moved over Xie Lian and paused on San Lang . Then she looked away . “No Heavenly Official has ever stepped foot here . I thought you people have long since turned your backs on us . ”  
Xie Lian had been quietly prepared to have to fight with the Ban Yue’s State Preceptor, but unexpectedly, she did not seem inclined to fight at all . He was left feeling somewhat surprised . The State Preceptor asked, “Are you getting out or not?”  
Xie Lian replied, “Of course we want to get out . But the spell array above is preventing us from doing so . ”  
The State Preceptor took a few steps to the side of the Sinner’s Pit, raised a hand and slapped her palm on the wall once . She turned around and said, “I’ve removed the spell array . You may go . ”  
“……”  
Isn’t this being too accommodating!  
Xie Lian was already at a complete loss for words . At this moment, a voice echoed down from far up above . “Wei! Is anybody down there? If not I’m leaving!”  
It was Fu Yao’s voice .  
Xie Lian seemed to hear San Lang by his side make a ‘tsk‘ sound . He raised his head, and sure enough, he could make out a dark figure gazing down . He called out, “Fu Yao! There’re people down here! I’m down here!”  
After that, he also waved his arms . From above, Fu Yao sounded disbelieving . “Seriously, why are you even down there? What else is there besides you?”  
Xie Lian replied, “Well…… there are a lot of things down here besides me . How about you see for yourself . ”  
Fu Yao apparently agreed that it was better to see for himself rather than continue listening to him . With a rumbling boom, he lit up a giant fireball and tossed it down .  
Instantly, the entirety of the Sinner’s Pit was illuminated by the blaze like a small sun had descended . Xie Lian was finally able to clearly make out his surroundings .  
Surrounding him in all directions were piled up mountains of corpses, the ground awash in a sea of blood . The bodies of numerous Ban Yue soldiers were stacked up on one another, their bright armor forming a stark contrast against the dusky skin of their faces and arms and the dark blood trickling down in rivulets . Xie Lian was standing on the only spot in the entire Sinner’s Pit that wasn’t occupied by a corpse .  
This was all done in the brief moment after San Lang had jumped down into the deep, dark pit .  
Xie Lian turned his head to look at the youth beside him again .  
Earlier in the dark, he had the vague notion that San Lang suddenly seemed to be taller than he was before, and he had also faintly perceived some other subtle differences . But right now, under the blazing glow of the fireball, the one standing by his side was still the same, handsome youth . Catching his gaze, San Lang gave him a faint smile .  
Xie Lian lowered his head to look at San Lang’s wrists and boots . Nothing has changed . There was nothing there that could have made the soft, tinkling sounds he had heard earlier .  
At this moment, there came a muffled thud . Fu Yao has jumped down as well . Xie Lian asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be watching over the people with the caravan?”  
Having just arrived at the bottom of the pit, Fu Yao wrinkled his nose at the heavy reek of blood . His brows were drawn into a frown as he flapped a hand before his face in a futile attempt to clear the air . “None of you came back after three hours, so I figured that something may have happened . I drew a ward around them and told them not to stray, before coming over here,” he deadpanned .  
Xie Lian said, “You shouldn’t have just dumped them . A ward doesn’t last long . What if they start to worry that you’ve abandoned them and go wandering around?”  
Fu Yao replied, “Let them wander if they will, not even a team of horses can hold fools back once an ill notion strikes their fancy . What’s up with these two here? Who are they?”  
He eyed the other two people in the pit guardedly, but quickly realized that Ke Mo, who was prone on the ground and barely able to budge, was already thoroughly beaten up all over, whilst the Ban Yue State Preceptor merely hung her head silently . A faintly puzzled expression crawled over Fu Yao’s face . Xie Lian began explaining, “This is the Ban Yue nation’s general, and this is the Ban Yue nation’s State Preceptor . They’re now……”  
He broke off when Ke Mo suddenly leapt up . After having lain on the ground for so long, he had finally mustered enough strength to clamber to his feet with a thunderous roar and aim a strike at the State Preceptor with his palm . A burly, hulking man attempting to hit a petite young girl, was a scene Xie Lian has never come across . But Ke Mo does have grounds to hate the State Preceptor, and the State Preceptor could obviously have dodged the blow, but she did not . She was flung to the ground like a broken doll . Ke Mo panted angrily, “Where are your Scorpion-Tailed snakes? Come on, summon them to bite me to death! Release me from this hell!”  
The State Preceptor said softly, “Ke Mo, my snakes no longer obey me . ”  
Ke Mo sneered derisively, “Then how come they’ve not bitten you to death yet!”  
“……” The State Preceptor whispered, “I’m sorry . ”  
Ke Mo said, “Do you really hate us so much?”  
The State Preceptor shook her head, but Ke Mo grew even angrier . “You’re really pissing me off! If you don’t hate us, why did you betray us?! You despicable traitor, turncoat, thankless self-seeker!!”  
Fu Yao watched as the one-sided fight escalated in intensity, with one doing the beating and the other being beaten up . He frowned . “Hey, what the hell are they talking about? Should we stop them?”  
Xie Lian could not stand being a silent spectator any longer, he stepped forward to pull Ke Mo back . “General! General! How about you tell us who the Yong’an thief was instead, we……” Suddenly, the State Preceptor grabbed hold of his wrist .  
{T/N: 贼 (zéi) – thief, traitor, saboteur, evil . This term did not turn up in any of the previous chapters, so I’m a bit puzzled as to who XL is referring to . Maybe it’s the head that was buried among the Kindred Moon Herbs . }  
The sudden grip on his wrist was tight and unyielding . Xie Lian’s heart sank at the thought that she must have been feigning before to plot against them . But when he lowered his head, the State Preceptor was half sprawled on the ground, the corners of her mouth bruised purple, her head lifted to look back at him . She remained mute, but her pitch-black eyes were boring into him with startling intensity .  
A vague, distant memory of a small figure rose, and seemed to overlap with the sight before him . Xie Lian blurted, “It’s you?”  
The State Preceptor also said, “General Hua ?”  
{T/N: 花 (Huā) – Flower . So it’s General Flower… lol . }  
This exchange caused everyone in the pit to stare at them blankly . In a single step, Fu Yao darted forwards and stunned Ke Mo with a blow . He asked, “You know each other?”  
But Xie Lian had no mind to spare to answer him . He crouched down and took hold of the State Preceptor’s shoulders, studying her face carefully .  
The distance between them earlier had made it difficult to get a good look, and the girl’s appearance had changed after growing up, not to mention that it has been over two hundred years since he last saw her . All this was to say, it was not surprising that he had not recognized her immediately . But now that he’s gotten a good look, there was no mistaking that face!  
Xie Lian was speechless for a good long while, before he finally uttered, “Ban Yue?”  
The State Preceptor grabbed his sleeves, a rare trace of emotion on her face . “It’s me! General Hua, do you still remember me?”  
Xie Lian said, “Of course I remember you, but……”  
He stared at the girl for a moment, then sighed . “……But, how did you end up like this . ”  
A hint of sadness flickered in her eyes at his words .  
She whispered, “I’m sorry Colonel ……I, I messed up . ”  
{T/N: 校尉 (xiào wèi) – colonel, about 2-3 ranks below General, based on the ancient Chinese military hierarchy}  
First there was a general, then a colonel, how could the others listening in not catch on? Fu Yao looked stunned as he mumbled, “Colonel? General? You? What is going on?? What about that general’s burial mound then?”  
Xie Lian nodded . “That’s my burial mound . ”  
“Didn’t you say you were just collecting scraps here two hundred years ago???” Fu Yao exclaimed .  
Xie Lian said, “This…… is a bit hard to explain . That was my original intention back then . ”  
On one day two hundred years ago, for whatever reason, Xie Lian could no longer wander about aimlessly in the East . Opting to lie low until the fuss died down, he decided to head South through Qinling to seek new lands and new scraps to recycle . And so he set off, compass in hand .  
{T/N: 秦岭 (Qín lǐng) – a mountain range in Shaanxi forming a natural barrier between the Guanzhong plain and Han River}  
But the longer he journeyed, the more discouraged he became . Why do the roads and landscape seem wrong? The roads should be heavily shaded with foliage, with bustling signs of humanity along the way, so why did his surroundings seem to grow more and more barren and desolate?  
Despite mounting doubts, he still steadfastly stuck to the direction he had chosen, until step by step, he arrived at the Gobi dessert . After being buffeted by the winds and swallowing several mouthfuls of sand, he finally realized that the compass he had brought was broken .  
The compass had been pointing him in the wrong direction all along!  
Ah well, there was no helping it . And so, with the mindset of “since I’m here, may as well take a look at the desert scenery”, he adjusted his direction, and began trudging northwest . He finally reached the border, and temporarily settled himself somewhere near the Ban Yue nation .  
Xie Lian continued, “I initially intended to only pick up scraps and whatnot around the vicinity . But the border was in a state of unrest, there were always plenty of deserters, and the army would go around randomly seizing people to replenish the numbers . ”  
San Lang asked, “So you were forced to join the army?”  
Xie Lian replied, “Well, I was grabbed . But it was all the same to me anyway, since I was enlisted, may as well go along with it . Later, after driving away some bandits several times, I was somehow promoted to colonel . Those who wanted to honor me would call me General . ”  
Fu Yao looked at him doubtfully . “But why did she call you General Hua? Your surname is not Hua . ”  
Xie Lian flapped a hand to dismiss it . “Don’t mind it . At that time, I just came up with a name on the spot for them, I think I was called Hua Xie . ”  
{T/N: 谢 (xiè) – The same ‘Xie’ in Xie Lian’s name . A point I find interesting, is that ‘xie’ can mean ‘thanks’, but can also mean ‘wither’ when referring to leaves/flowers . So Hua Xie means withering flower . }  
San Lang’s expression changed subtly upon hearing that name, and the corners of his lips seemed to curve into a brief smirk . Xie Lian did not notice this, and continued, “Battles occurred frequently at the border, and many children were orphaned . During my free time, I’d sometimes play with them . And one of them…… was called Ban Yue . ”  
When fighting against bandits, Xie Lian was undoubtedly the bravest and strongest soldier amongst them . No one dared to stand in his way, and no one dared to stand too near him either . But when there was no fighting going on, it seemed that pretty much anyone could order him around .  
One day, he made a fire against a sand wall, and used his own helmet to cook in . As he cooked, the odor of food drifted in the air and drew the annoyed attention of several other soldiers, who came and kicked over his makeshift pot of food . Aggrieved, Xie Lian went to pick up his helmet . When he turned back, he was stunned to see a filthy and bedraggled waif of a child squatting on the ground, reaching for the hot mush which had been spilled, heedless of the scalding heat . Alarmed, he had cried out, “Don’t! Wait wait little one, you-!”  
As expected, the child blew twice on the hot food that had been picked up from the ground, and stuffed it into her mouth . Then she gave an ear-piercing shriek, retched, and burst into tears with a waaaah . Xie Lian was given such a fright that he picked her up upside-down and ran about frantically . It was a while before the child finally spat back out everything she had swallowed . Relieved, Xie Lian crouched down, mopping at his own sweat as he said gently, “Are you alright now, little one…… sorry ah, but please please don’t tell your parents what happened here, and next time don’t simply pick things up from the floor to eat…… wait wait whatareyoudoing!”  
The child’s eyes were brimming with tears, but she still tried to pick up the food to eat again . When Xie Lian grabbed her, he realized that the child’s belly was practically sticking to her spine .  
For one who has starved to this extent, they would be willing to eat anything . Despite being sickened to tears, they would still be willing to eat .  
Xie Lian was at a loss, and could only think of retrieving the last of his own rations to give to her . After that, he frequently caught the girl secretly peeping at him from hidden corners .  
From his impressions of her, this child called Ban Yue seemed to wear a perpetually unhappy expression, and her face and body were always marked with bruises . Every time he spotted her, she would always be staring at him fixedly, just like the way she was looking at him now . Because the child Ban Yue was excluded from the other groups of children, asides from Xie Lian, only a young Yong’an boy who lived in the same border would sometimes look out for her, so she would always trail after these two people .  
She was a quiet child, but she could speak the Han dialect, so Xie Lian had never been able to figure out where she came from . Since there did not seem to be anyone minding the child, Xie Lian would sometimes bring her around with him . When he had time to spare, he would teach her some songs, how to tumble and wrestle, and even stage some rock smashing performances, and so on . Their relationship had been pretty good .  
{T/N: Click for pic . The principle of the act is that the rock absorbs the inertia of when the hammer comes crashing down, so the person suffers very little impact . }  
Xie Lian said, “I thought the ‘Ban Yue’ of ‘Ban Yue State Preceptor’ was referring to the country’s name . I didn’t realize that the State Preceptor’s name was actually Ban Yue . ”  
Fu Yao said, “So what happened next?”  
Xie Lian replied, “Next…… what happened was pretty much the same as what was inscribed on the stele at the General’s burial mound . ”  
{T/N: A stele is a slab (either made of wood or stone) that is generally erected as a monument or funerary memorial . Click for pic . Previously translated as ‘stone slate’ by Sakhyulations . }  
San Lang had been silent up to this point . “The inscription on the stele said you died,” he noted .  
When reminded of the stele again, Xie Lian felt a little depressed .  
Aren’t eulogies supposed to sing exaggerated praise for the dead, and paint a beautiful commemorative picture of the dearly departed? Exactly what was so amazing about being demoted till he could be demoted no further? Even if he could overlook that, did it have to describe his humiliating death in such excruciating detail as well???  
While sheltering from the sand storm and reading the text on the stele, his eyes had started twitching once they reached this particular passage . If it had not been for the fact that San Lang could decipher the Ban Yue script as well and had also been standing right next to Xie Lian, he would have skipped over the part depicting his ignoble death entirely and pretended it didn’t exist . Even he himself had nearly choked, how could he blame others for laughing out loud? Still, the people who had sought shelter at his own burial mound from the wind and sand had seen the inscription describing his past deeds on the stele, and had even broken into a lively discourse about him, interspersed with guffaws . How could he bring himself to ask them not to laugh? Actually, he had been feeling a little glum about it all . Xie Lian felt that the space between his brows must be red by now from all his kneading . He said, “Ah, that, of course I didn’t die . I faked my death . ”  
Fu Yao looked at him incredulously . Xie Lian hurried to explain, “I really couldn’t get back up as there were too many feet trampling over me . Faking death was the only option . ”  
Actually, Xie Lian couldn’t really recall the specifics of his ‘death’ . He couldn’t even really remember why the two countries kept clashing with each other either, just that it was over some little matter which had been blown out of proportion . He hadn’t wanted to fight at all, but at that time, he had already been demoted to the bottom-most rung, so no one had been willing to listen to him . Both sides were already berserk with blood lust, and when Xie Lian rushed out, somehow, he was suddenly met with both swords and knives . Fu Yao began chastising him, “You must have stuck yourself in the middle and pissed both sides off, didn’t you? Else why would they immediately chop you down when you showed up? And you knew that they hated you, you could have just avoided the mass of people, why did you have to charge in headlong? If you had wanted to avoid them, you definitely could have . ”


	28. Who's making mischief?!

Xie Lian said, “I really can’t remember anymore!”  
Even though he’s more resilient than a roach, being hacked at like that was still a bit too much . At that time, his immediate thought had been, “I can’t go on like this ah!”, and then he promptly toppled to the ground . While playing dead, he was trampled on a goodly number of times until he finally fainted . It was only when he was choking on water that he regained consciousness . Turns out, after the battle had ended and the cleanup commenced, all the dead bodies had been unceremoniously dumped into the river . Xie Lian floated along with the current like so much discarded debris and was eventually washed ashore in Yong’an country . After nursing his injuries for three to four years, he picked up a functioning compass and once again set off on his long delayed journey . At long last, he arrived at his original destination in the South, and no longer paid attention to the affairs of the Ban Yue nation .  
{T/N: 百打不死 (Bǎi dǎ bùsǐ) – lit . beat hundred times, won’t die}  
Ban Yue again said softly, “I’m sorry . ”  
Fu Yao frowned . “Why does she keep apologizing to you?”  
San Lang suddenly spoke, “Earlier, Ke Mo said that the Ban Yue State Preceptor only left for the Central Plains after a revolt broke out . Was this revolt in any way related to you?”  
At this reminder, Xie Lian also recalled the inscriptions on the stone stele . He blinked and seemed to vaguely remember something . “Ah, I think……”  
Ban Yue said, “It was to save me . ”  
Everyone turned to look at her . She lowered her head and said in an undertone, “General Hua was trampled flat because he was trying to save me . ”  
“……”  
Xie Lian suddenly recalled being violently stomped on by hundreds and thousands of feet . He curled an arm around himself out of reflex, then realized that two pairs of eyes were regarding him with intense scrutiny . He froze, then hastened to say, “Nono, not flat, not flat at all!”  
For whatever reason, Fu Yao seemed irked by his reply . “Oh, you were really quite the hero weren’t you,” he said, a peculiar lilt to his tone .  
Xie Lian waved a hand and said airily, “You flatter me . Besides, unless I’m mistaken, I just happened to be at the scene and decided to bring the child away, before immediately making good my escape . But before I could withdraw, I ran into both armies instead……”  
“If that was the case, how could you have possibly forgotten?” Fu Yao demanded .  
Xie Lian said, “May I remind you that I’m already a couple hundred years old? A lot of things can happen in one year, even a person can be completely unrecognizable after ten years . This incident happened a very long time ago . I can’t possibly remember each and every detail clearly . What’s more, a lot of things are better forgotten . Rather than reminiscing on how I was repeatedly stabbed and trampled some hundred years ago, isn’t it better to savour the memory of the delicious meat bun I had yesterday?”  
{T/N : Meat bun (usually pork) . Click for pic . }  
“I’m sorry,” Ban Yue said .  
Xie Lian sighed . “Ban Yue ah, saving you was my choice, it wasn’t your fault . If you must apologize, then perhaps you should be offering it to someone else . ”  
Ban Yue looked startled, then lowered her head silently .  
Xie Lian added, “But…… it may be that my impression of you still remains at how you were two hundred odd years ago . I find it hard to believe that you would actively scheme for vengeance’s sake and betray the trust of those who depend on you…… would you be willing to tell me what really happened? Why did you open the city gates?”  
Ban Yue considered his words briefly, then shook her head and remained mute .  
Xie Lian said, “Then, why did you send the snakes out to attack people?”  
This time, Ban Yue chose to reply him . “I didn’t send the snakes . ”  
Xie Lian paused in surprise . “What?”  
Ban Yue repeated, “I didn’t send the snakes, they went on their own accord . I don’t know what happened, but they no longer obey me . ”  
Fu Yao’s lips thinned from impatience . Ban Yue said, “General Hua, I’m telling the truth . ”  
Before Xie Lian could say anything, Fu Yao cut in brusquely . “Save it, everyone says the same thing once they’ve been caught . I’ve heard these excuses many times before . Intentional or not, it doesn’t change the fact that people have been bitten by your snakes while crossing through the pass . Hands out now, it’s time to go . ”  
Ban Yue fell silent and obediently stretched out her hands . Fu Yao immediately shook out a length of Immortal Binding Rope from his sleeve and proceeded to tie her and Ke Mo up . “Alright, we’ve settled what we came to do, case closed!”  
San Lang spoke up lazily from the side, “There’s no reason for her to lie . ”  
Xie Lian too, felt that he couldn’t just allow the matter to drop . He said to Ban Yue, “Are you not able to summon the Scorpion-Tailed snakes at all?”  
Ban Yue replied, “I can call on them . They do listen to me for the most part, but sometimes they don’t . I don’t know why either . ”  
“How about you call the snakes out now, let us have a look,” Xie Lian suggested .  
Earlier, Ban Yue had been kneeling in front of him . Now she finally stood up and nodded . Before long, a purplish-red Scorpion-Tailed snake slithered out from under one of the corpses and reared its head, silently flickering its tongue at them . Xie Lian was about to cautiously venture closer for a better look when he spotted Ban Yue’s eyes widening slightly, a peculiar expression on her face . Xie Lian’s heart sank as he thought, “Oh no . ”  
Sure enough, after tasting the air with its tongue, the Scorpion-Tailed snake’s jaws suddenly gaped wide, its fangs glistening threateningly in the air as it struck at him!  
Even though the snake’s attack was abrupt, Xie Lian had been on his guard . He could anticipate the snake’s moves clearly, and stretched out a hand to seize the snake . But before his hand could even reach the snake, there was a sudden ‘pēng’ sound, like something had exploded . He stared blankly at the snake as it fell limply to the ground, it’s innards spilling out like a flower in bloom . And what was more, the explosion itself was very neat, not a single drop of venom had splashed out .  
Xie Lian immediately recalled the time before they entered Ban Yue nation . A snake had died in a similar manner . Well then, it wasn’t much of a guess as to who had done it . Before he could even shift his gaze towards San Lang, a long arm clad in a red, narrow sleeve stretched out in front of him, blocking him off from Ban Yue . From the side, Fu Yao said coldly, “As expected, she was trying to trick you . Did you really think the snake could have successfully bitten him under these circumstances? Idiot . ”  
Ban Yue’s face had turned rigid at the sight of the snake . At Fu Yao’s words, her head jerked up quickly . “It wasn’t me . I said some snakes wouldn’t listen to me, that snake was one of those . ”  
Fu Yao gave a derisive snort . “And who’s to say if that snake hadn’t been acting on your orders instead?”  
Ban Yue said hollowly, “I didn’t even summon this snake here . ”  
Xie Lian opened his mouth, but spotted two deep magenta Scorpion-Tailed snakes writhing out from beneath the corpses, hissing menacingly as they slithered towards them . Immediately after, a third appeared, then a fourth, then a fifth…… from within the corpses and every nook and cranny in the rocks, a multitude of Scorpion-Tailed snakes began swarming out!  
Everyone’s eyes fell on Ban Yue who was crouched on a pile of corpses . Bright beams of light burst forth from Fu Yao’s hand . “Tell them to back off, surely some of them still obey you,” he snapped at Ban Yue .  
Ban Yue’s brows drew together tightly in concentration, as if attempting to figure out how to drive the snakes away . Yet more and more Scorpion-Tailed snakes continued to pour out, forming a large writhing mass that continued to draw near them . While one or two snake bites would not kill them, they’d be hard-pressed if it were a hundred or a thousand . And even if they didn’t die, they’d still be a very sorry sight indeed . Xie Lian raised a hand, ready to put Ruoye to action, but then he saw the snakes halting several feet from them . As if reluctant to get any closer, they formed a grotesque, hissing circle around them .  
A sudden flash of realization hit Xie Lian, he turned to look at San Lang . The youth stood straight-backed beside him, his eyes fixed on the Scorpion-Tailed snakes with an air of arrogant contempt . The Scorpion-Tailed snakes seemed deterred by his haughty gaze and recoiled . Bit by bit the snakes retreated, heads lowered to the ground in submission .  
However, they also seemed to be driven by some strange force which did not permit them to give up their attacks and retreat . And so the Scorpion-Tailed snakes changed their target and began slithering towards Fu Yao instead . With a casual wave of his sleeve, Fu Yao sent a blaze roaring at the them, charring a ring of snakes .  
But this cannot last long . Xie Lian said, “Let’s leave this pit first . ”  
At his unspoken command, Ruoye unraveled and flew upwards with a whoosh . But before long, Ruoye returned with another whoosh . Xie Lian was faintly startled . He said to the white silk coiled around his wrist, “Why did you come back? The spell array has been removed, there’s nothing blocking your way . Go go . ”  
But Ruoye remained wrapped around his arm, shivering as if it had met with something unspeakably horrible up above . While Xie Lian was still trying to coax it, something fell down from above and landed with a smack against Fu Yao’s shoulder . When Fu Yao grabbed at it, his expression abruptly changed . He brought the thing in front of him for a look—-what had dropped out of the sky was also a Scorpion-Tailed snake!  
Caught unprepared, Fu Yao was bitten . He abruptly flung the snake at Ban Yue . Ban Yue reflexively reached out with her bound hands and caught it . The purplish-red snake wound its body around her pale wrist but did not make to attack . At this moment, another dull thud sounded, and a second snake landed on the ground!  
Xie Lian could roughly guess why Ruoye had refused to go up . When he raised his head, from the faint rays of moonlight, he could just barely discern hundreds of small specks of purplish-red snakes hurtling down from the top of the Sinner’s Pit .  
It’s raining snakes!  
Seeing how the purplish-red dots were rapidly getting closer, Xie Lian said, “Fu Yao! Fire! Send the fire upwards, deal with then while they’re still in midair!”  
Fu Yao bit down on his palm, breaking the skin . With a wave of his hand, he sent a single bead of blood flying up, before transforming it into a blazing shield of protective flames . The barrier of fire was suspended ten feet in the air, and the Scorpion-Tailed snakes which collided against it were rapidly incinerated to ashes . The rain of snakes was effectively cut off .  
At this momentary reprieve, Xie Lian relaxed a little . “Great! Thanks a lot, Fu Yao!”  
This level of magic would inevitably drain a huge chunk of their spiritual energy . Fu Yao’s face was already showing the beginnings of strain . He turned and also drew a circle of flames around them on the ground, crisping the snakes there . He said to Ban Yue, “Do you still insist that they do not obey you? If you are not the one manipulating them, why are the snakes not attacking you?”  
San Lang grinned . “Maybe you’re just unlucky? They’re not attacking us either ah . ”  
Fu Yao whirled to face them, his eyes raking over the both of them, expression grim . At this, Xie Lian felt some misgivings, but the beginnings of a hunch about their present situation was also forming . There isn’t enough time to sort his thoughts, and he really doesn’t want to see them get into a brawl right now . “We should get out of here, it’s best to figure out what’s wrong with these snakes first,” he said .  
Fu Yao’s mouth stretched in a sneer . “Figure out what’s wrong? If the Ban Yue State Preceptor is not the one lying, then it’s the thing next to you that’s making mischief!”  
Xie Lian’s gaze flitted from Ban Yue to San Lang . “I don’t think its them . ”  
Although his tone was mild, it brooked no argument . This was the conclusion he has arrived at after much thought, but Fu Yao was sure to assume that he was deliberately shielding them . The fire illuminated the twisted expression on Fu Yao’s face, as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or implode in fury . “Your Royal Highness, can you ditch this ignorant act of yours . Do you still remember who you are? That thing beside you, surely you have long since known what it is, you must have realized by now!”


	29. White Wind Master; Swirling Sandstorm

Xie Lian shifted to face Fu Yao and, intentionally or otherwise, when he took a step forwards, he shielded San Lang from view . “There is no need to remind me of who I am . On this, I am most clear . ”  
“Then why the hell are you still standing there by his side?” Fu Yao seethed .  
Xie Lian’s reply was frank . “Because…… I won’t be bitten by the snakes if I stand next to him . ”  
“……”  
San Lang choked a little at his answer, then burst into laughter . Fu Yao’s expression was thunderous . “You……”  
His face grew steadily darker, then suddenly turned entirely black . Not just his face, Xie Lian’s entire view also bathed in pure darkness .  
Turns out that the protective barrier of flames that Fu Yao had put up earlier, as well as the ring of fire he had drawn on the ground, have suddenly gone out!  
In the darkness, Xie Lian heard San Lang snicker as he said, “Pathetic!” He felt an arm loop over his shoulders . Immediately after, Xie Lian heard something slamming hard and fast right above them in quick succession . Bang bang! It sounded like a torrential rainstorm striking and bouncing off a parasol .  
Needless to say, now that the protective barrier has vanished, the purplish-red snakes had begun raining down on them in a veritable deluge again . And there is a parasol propped above them, deflecting the snakes!  
Xie Lian caught a whiff of a heavy scent of blood . He was about to make a move, but San Lang said, “Don’t move . Nothing would dare come over here, if it knows what’s best for them . ”  
His tone was calm and confident . The first part of his sentence was spoken gently, his voice mellow, but the later part was laced with arrogance . Xie Lian had not been worried to begin with, but then he heard Fu Yao bellowing angrily somewhere ahead . It seems that the rain of snakes had poured all over his head . Xie Lian urged, “San Lang!”  
San Lang immediately said, “No . ”  
Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or tear at his hair . “Do you know what I was about to say?”  
San Lang replied, “Don’t worry yourself . He won’t die . ”  
At this moment, a shriek sounded from somewhere laterally ahead of them . “BAN YUE! If you want me dead just let them bite me and get it over with . What the hell are you playing at?”  
Ban Yue protested, “It wasn’t me!” In all likelihood, Ke Mo had been battered awake by the snakes, found himself buried in a seething mass of slippery bodies, and immediately determined this to be Ban Yue’s way of tormenting him .  
Xie Lian said, “Fu Yao, can you still light up a fire? Cast another flame spell!”  
Fu Yao was gnashing his teeth . “That thing by your side is suppressing my magic, I can’t light any fires!”  
Xie Lian’s heart sank, but San Lang said, “I didn’t . ”  
“I know you didn’t,” Xie Lian said . “And that’s precisely why this is strange . Ban Yue and Ke Mo are bound by the Immortal Binding ropes so their powers are restricted, I’ve run out of spiritual energy, and you’re not suppressing Fu Yao . Does that not mean that there is a sixth person in this pit?!”  
Fu Yao was incensed . “Are you possessed! There’s no damned sixth person here, no one else has come down from up there!”  
At this moment, they heard Ban Yue’s startled voice . “Who’s there?!”  
Xie Lian said, “What’s wrong Ban Yue? Is there someone by your side?”  
Ban Yue replied, “There’s a……” Her sentence ended here and her voice faded away . Xie Lian exclaimed in alarm, “Ban Yue?!”  
Fu Yao was still thrashing about within the nest of snakes . For a brief moment, a white light shone like a beacon within the pitch darkness accompanied by a ripple of explosions . He warned, “Be careful, she may be luring you over to her!”  
Xie Lian said, “Not necessarily . Let’s save her first!” He was about to dash into the rain of snakes, but then he heard San Lang’s voice by his ear . “Alright!”  
Xie Lian felt a hand fasten on his shoulder, and then they were suddenly whirling out together . He realized with a start that the youth was actually handling a parasol with masterful skill . With one arm fastening Xie Lian to his side, San Lang surged forward in an attack . Within the inky darkness, sparks of silver flickered, accompanied by clear, ringing chimes . Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing screech of metal on metal which split everyone’s eardrums .  
“Oh?” San Lang said . “So there really is a sixth person . How interesting . ”  
Xie Lian could not tell how the youth handled his weapons, nor what his weapons even were . But right now, it was clear that his weapons have been met with someone else’s attack!  
The other person was silent . Xie Lian could hear the whistling sound of blades cleaving the air, and deduced that another attack has been launched . From time to time, sparks burst out in brief flashes, shining stark within the darkness, but winked out just as quickly as they came . It did not suffice to illuminate the enemy’s face . Xie Lian trained an ear on the ongoing battle, and at the same time he called out, “Ban Yue, are you there? Can you answer me?”  
There was no reply . Fu Yao huffed . “Mayhap the person you’re both fighting with is her!”  
Xie Lian said, “No, this is definitely not Ban Yue!”  
Just like how they had beat Ke Mo in the dark earlier, San Lang moved around languidly like he was merely humouring his opponent, except that he was a little more attentive this time . Their opponent had explosively powerful martial skills, and they handled their weapon smoothly and skillfully . Ban Yue’s build is petite . The brief flashes of light had illuminated a powerful looking arm, and the strength with which it wielded their weapon was clearly beyond Ban Yue’s capability . Hence it is impossible for their opponent to be her . But who could this sixth person be? And when did they even turn up to begin with?!  
{T/N: I used ‘they’ to be gender neutral, but really it’s referring to only one person . }  
“This sort of traitor who sells out her country is no different from that female ghost, Xuan Ji,” Fu Yao retorted “Why are you so insistent on trusting her?”  
{T/N: Reminder, Xuan Ji was the ghost who murdered the brides and broke her own legs to get her former lover Pei Ming (aka General Pei) to see her again . }  
Xie Lian said, “Fu Yao, can you stop being so irritable? You…… wait wait, what did you just say?”  
Fu Yao crossly slapped at several Scorpion-Tailed snakes and sent them flying away with an explosive blast . “I said, why do you trust her so much? Just like how you trust that thing by your side!”  
But Xie Lian said, “No, I wasn’t talking about this—– you said Xuan Ji . You mentioned Xuan Ji didn’t you?!”  
“What of it?! What’s that got to do with anything!”  
But Xie Lian held his breath for a moment, then suddenly said, “You can stop now! There’s no need for you to hide, I already know who you are!”  
The sound of clashing blades did not waver . Their opponent paid no heed to him, but Xie Lian wasn’t overly concerned . “You think my words are only meant to trick you? General Pei Junior ?”  
{T/N: Previously translated as Little General Pei by Sakhyulations . Not to be confused with General Pei . }  
Chapter 29 : White Wind Master; Swirling Sandstorm  
Well, what would you like to eat then, Hua Cheng?  
Fu Yao looked bewildered . “Who are you talking to? General Pei Junior? Have you gone mad? With the kind of status General Pei Junior holds, don’t you think everyone would know of it if he descends?”  
Xie Lian nodded . “What you said is true . However, what if it was not his true, divine self that came down?”  
In the dark, the sound of blades clashing seemed to freeze for a moment, then immediately continued .  
Xie Lian said, “My realization came pretty late . In fact, this should have occurred to me long ago .  
“I knew that there have been strange happenings at the Ban Yue pass for nearly two hundred years, but no Heaven’s Official has ever ventured to take notice of it . Since everyone else was reluctant to touch on the subject, it could only mean that someone has been deliberately suppressing the matter, and they dared not offend this person . But I wasn’t familiar with the rest of the Heaven’s Officials, so I dared not venture any guesses or make bold speculations as to who this big-shot is . ”  
Xie Lian had only been reminded of the matter when Fu Yao mentioned the female ghost, Xuan Ji .  
When on the subject of Xuan Ji, one would inadvertently connect her with the two generals from the Pei family . The North is the domain of the two Pei generals, and Fu Yao had once mentioned in passing : before General Pei Junior ascended to Heaven, he had once commanded the massacre of everybody in a captured city .  
{T/N: Refer chapter 12, on Pei Su’s (aka General Pei Junior) brief history}  
Which city was massacred?  
It could very well have been the ancient country of Ban Yue!  
This sort of thing is not unheard of among the officials of the Court of Heaven . In order to attain success, bloodshed has often been necessary . But then again, slaughtering the innocent folk in a captured city was not something one could brag about either . If word of it gets spread too far and wide, it would be difficult to attract new worshipers, so it was often necessary to cover up these matters . Even if everyone in Heaven knew of it, the polite thing to do would be to gloss over the subject . After all, unless one was harboring some sort of deep grudge or planned on causing mischief, who would go around digging up other people’s shameful histories and drawing the ire of their backers?  
Xie Lian said slowly, “The face which was buried in the ground said, among us, there was someone who had been present fifty to sixty years ago . I thought his words were but lies to trick us to get closer, but now it seems that it spoke the truth .  
“The one I suspected most was you . The caravans follow you, it’s no chore for you to lead them anywhere you wished . In all the years I spent in Ban Yue, I have never come across a single Scorpion-Tailed snake, yet you lot managed to come across such a rare, venomous creature while seeking shelter from the sand storm .  
“When I agreed for you to come with us to seek the Moon Kindred herbs, you even left them with very specific directions to the ancient city of Ban Yue, just so if any of them couldn’t wait for our return, they could go ahead and serve themselves up to be slaughtered . Earlier at the top of the Sinners’ Pit, I did say that if anything were to happen I would step forth first . But you suddenly lost your head and jumped in for no reason, despite having been calm from the start . ”  
Xie Lian paused briefly before summing it up . “Your actions have been bizarre and senseless all along, but it took me this long to figure it out . It really was slow of me, isn’t that right? General Pei Junior? Or should I call you—– Ah Zhao!”  
Deathly silence ensued .  
After a long while, a flat, cold voice said, “Has it ever occurred to you, that the face in the ground may have been referring to the youth in red by your side instead . ”  
Flames blazed up within the Sinner’s Pit, illuminating two figures in bloody crimson facing each other .  
One was San Lang in red who had already stowed away his weapons, looking calm and serene . The other was a plain garbed young man who was still holding a sword out horizontally before him, seemingly reluctant to back down .  
Because the plain cotton of the young man’s clothing was soaked in blood, it gave the impression that he was dressed entirely in red . His expression was cold and remote, with a body slung over one of his shoulders . It really was Ah Zhao .  
In fact, whether it is the deity General Pei Junior or Ah Zhao, that dull and stony expression he favored had always been the same . But Xie Lian’s thoughts had not led him in that direction, so he did not make the connection between these two people earlier .  
The person he held draped over his shoulder was Ban Yue . Xie Lian guessed that he had released the snakes to distract them and steal Ban Yue away during the ensuing chaos, but since his mask has now been torn off, there was no longer any use in doing so . The snakes writhing on the ground and those still hailing down from above suddenly fell still . With a skillful twist of the wrist, Ah Zhao sheathed his sword with one hand and lowered Ban Yue to the ground with the other . Ke Mo gaped at him . “Who are you? Didn’t you fall to your death?”  
Ah Zhao’s gaze did not waver from San Lang . “Ke Mo, you’re still the same after hundreds of years,” he replied curtly in the Ban Yue tongue  
Ke Mo gave a start of recognition at his blandly indifferent tone, then rage suddenly suffused his swarthy features . “……It’s you!!! Pei Su?!”  
If it wasn’t because he was firmly tied up by the Immortal Binding ropes, he probably would charged at the young man like a furious bull .  
“General Pei Junior, the Scorpion-Tailed snakes do not only obey Ban Yue,” Xie Lian probed . “The snakes which would attack travelers at will were controlled by you, weren’t they . ”  
“En, it was me,” Pei Su admitted . He seemed strangely pleased .  
“Did Ban Yue teach you how to control the Scorpion-Tailed snakes?”  
“She did not . But I can learn her ways on my own . ”  
Xie Lian’s brows rose . “Indeed, General Pei Junior is truly gifted . ”  
He paused, then asked, “When did you two first meet? And how did you meet?”  
Pei Su gave him a brief look and said, “General Hua . ”  
Xie Lian was baffled . “Why are you also addressing me this way?”  
Pei Su said mildly, “Do you not recognize me, General Hua?”  
“……”  
Then Xie Lian recalled .  
Hazy memories surfaced of Ban Yue as a child being ostracized by the other Ban Yue children, only a young Yong’An boy would occasionally take notice of her . Like Ban Yue, the boy was also taciturn by nature . Many of the children at the frontier were born to the soldiers defending the borders, and they tended to join the ranks after growing up as well . Could it be……  
“It’s you?!” Xie Lian exclaimed . “I really only just recognized you . ”  
Pei Su nodded . “It’s me . I too, only just recognized you, General . ”  
No wonder . Turns out Ban Yue and the military official she colluded with have known each other from way back!  
Xie Lian said, “Did Ban Yue really open the city gates because of you?”  
Ke Mo spat at the floor, then began bucking around . “Untie me,” he demanded . “Let me and this despicable wretch Pei Su fight it out to the death!”  
Pei Su replied coolly, “Firstly, we have already fought it out two hundred years ago, and you lost . Second, dare I ask which part of me is despicable?”  
Ke Mo drew himself up angrily . “If it wasn’t for the two of you colluding to strike at us from inside and out, how would we have lost?!”  
Pei Su’s lips curled in a faint sneer . “Ke Mo, stop deluding yourself . During the siege, even though I only brought two thousand men with me, as far as I’m concerned, breaking through the city gates was only a matter of time . ”  
Xie Lian could not help blurting out, “Wait wait, you were sent to attack a whole country with only two thousand soldiers? Wasn’t it tantamount to suicide? Could it be that you were even more detested within the army than me??”  
“……”  
Pei Su stopped talking . It seems like he had hit the mark . Xie Lian added, “Since victory was in your grasp, why then did you ask Ban Yue to open the city gates for you?”  
Pei Su said bluntly, “Because I wanted everyone in the city dead . ”  
Xie Lian squinted at him . “What do you mean? Since you were already winning, what need was there to massacre everyone?” It can’t be some kind of hobby right!  
Pei Su said, “It was precisely because we were winning, that the massacre was necessary . And it had to be done quickly and immediately, sparing no one . ”  
Xie Lian noticed the grand way he emphasized on ‘sparing no one’ . “Reason being?”  
Pei Su replied, “The night before the siege, many of the Ban Yue family heads convened and came to an agreement on one thing . ”  
“What was it?”  
“The Ban Yue people are naturally fierce with tendencies toward violence,” Pei Su explained . “They deeply hated Yong’an . Even if they knew that defeat was imminent, they would not submit to it . So all of Ban Yue’s men, women, children, elderly, were instructed to prepare one thing with utmost haste . ”  
Xie Lian could already faintly guess at what it was, and the word Pei Su spat out confirmed his guess:  
“Explosives!”  
Pei Su drew his words out carefully . “They had decided that if the walls of the city fall, all the inhabitants would conceal these explosives within their bodies and immediately flee in different directions . They would then enter Yong’an and try to cause a ruckus to draw as large a crowd as possible, then set the explosives off . Even if they die, they will bring as many Yong’an people down with them as they could . Even if their nation has been vanquished, they would see to it that the ones who had defeated them would know no peace . ”  
Hence it had been necessary to cut down all these civilians in one stroke before they could make a run for it……  
Xie Lian immediately turned to look at Ke Mo . “Is this true?”  
Ke Mo replied proudly, “Yes!”  
San Lang lifted a brow . “How very vicious . ”  
He said this in the Ban Yue tongue . Ke Mo’s face contorted in rage . “Vicious? What right do you have to call us vicious? If it were not you people who attacked us first, we would not have been forced to this . You destroyed us and we retaliated in turn, how are we in the wrong?!”  
“Very well,” Pei Su said . “How about we start from the beginning? How many times have the Ban Yue people at the frontier stirred up trouble without reason? How many Yong’an caravans and travelers on the way to the Western Regions been maliciously intercepted by the Ban Yue nation? You people knew full well that there were horse thieves amongst you who specialized in deliberately barricading roads and wantonly plundering and slaughtering the Yong’an people, yet you sheltered them . The soldiers that Yong’an sent to round up these thieves and murderers were killed by you on grounds of trespassing . So tell me, have we not the right to deem you vicious?”  
Although his speech was impassive and his tone inflectionless, every word was sharp and incisive . Ke Mo said, “But that was because you people first forcefully occupied our lands, so we struck back . ”  
Pei Su said, “The borders between the two countries have never been clearly delineated, how was it considered forceful occupation?”  
Ke Mo said, “Both sides have already marked out the territories long ago, but you people reneged on it!”  
Pei Su returned, “The division of the territories was only agreed on your end, when has Yong’an ever acceded to it? Your so-called division of territories was to give us all the barren wastelands whilst you people kept all the oases for yourself . Ridiculous, no?”  
Ke Mo was enraged . “The oases have always belonged to us . Generations of Ban Yue people grew up at the oases!”  
Both parties obstinately stuck to their side of the story . Listening to them bicker incessantly was enough to make Xie Lian’s head throb . When he recalled how he had been caught in between both opposing armies and suffered a terrible beating two hundred years ago, he felt his face aching dully again . Pei Su turned away from Ke Mo dismissively and said to Xie Lian, “As you can see, the rights and wrongs of earthly affairs can never be clearly grasped . Only through force may the victor be decided . ”  
Xie Lian said, “I agree with the first half of that statement . ”  
San Lang said, “I agree with the second half . ”  
Ke Mo’s anger subsided slightly, then he suddenly said, “The Yong’an people for the most part are shameless, and you are the most shameless one I have ever met . Pei Su, you are a cold-hearted man . Your killing us had never been for the sake of your country, nor was it to save your people . ”  
Pei Su fell silent .  
Ke Mo continued, “You were the son of an exile, scorned and despised by everyone . You only wanted to gain a foothold and establish yourself within the Yong’an army’s ranks and climb up the ladder, which was why you absolutely had to win that hopeless battle . But it’s a pity that Ban Yue thought highly of you . She was used by you, and betrayed us for the likes of you . ”  
Xie Lian asked, “But General Pei Junior, aren’t you a descendant of General Pei’s?” With the protection of such a renowned ancestor whose fame spread far and wide, it ought not have been necessary to stoop to such tactics right?  
“He may be related to General Pei, but who knows how many branches there are in that family tree,” San Lang said .  
Ah . That is to say, if Pei Su had not had the ability to ascend to Heaven on his own merit, he was unlikely to have received any blessings from this old ancestor of his .  
“Ban Yue was my subordinate,” Pei Su said mildly . “She went to Ban Yue nation and concealed herself there on my orders . She is of Ban Yue blood, and also of Yong’an . She chose a side and stuck to it, she has never betrayed her country . The Ban Yue people are sinister and capricious . I do not regret putting them to death . ”  
Suddenly, a voice sounded from above . “WELL SAID! What then, of those travelers whom you lured through the pass to their ends in this pit for so many years, dare you say you do not regret their deaths as well?”


	30. Poking the Ghost King; Seeking the True Form

Xie Lian, “Blood Rain Seeking Flower?”  
Hua Cheng, “Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince . ”  
Xie Lian turned around with a smile . “It’s the first time I’ve heard you address me this way . ”  
The youth in red sat on the straw woven mat, one leg casually bent before him . Likewise, he was also smiling . “How does it feel?”  
Xie Lian thought for a moment, then admitted frankly, “It feels…… . rather different from when others call me that . ”  
“Hm, how is it different?” Hua Cheng asked .  
Xie Lian tilted his head, his eyes narrowed contemplatively as he said, “I’m not too sure, it’s just……”  
When others greet him as ‘Your Royal Highness’, it was either perfunctory and detached in nature, such as Ling Wen . Or, like the vast majority, the title ‘Your Royal Highness’ would be squeezed out between smiles which contained more teeth than sincerity . Such as when one called a hag a beauty, their seemingly courteous greetings were deliberate and carried a heavy flavour of mockery and derision .  
{T/N: Quick reminder . Ling Wen is one of the goddesses of Literature (you’re either a Martial god or a Literature god), and the first person to greet Xie Lian during his third ascension . She works in Heaven’s equivalent of a HR department and also hands out tasks to Heavenly Officials . Mortals worship her for success in their careers . }  
But when Hua Cheng called him ‘Your Royal Highness’, there was a deep sense of reverence in it . Therefore, Xie Lian could not help but think that Hua Cheng’s way of addressing him as ‘Your Royal Highness’ sounded markedly different, although he was hard-pressed to put this feeling into words .  
“At Mount Yu Jun,” Xie Lian said . “The bridegroom who led me away was you, right?”  
Hua Cheng’s lips curled up in a smirk . Xie Lian then realized how ambiguous his words seemed and hastened to correct himself . “I mean, the one who posed as the bridegroom at Mount Yu Jun to lead me away was you right?”  
But Hua Cheng said, “I did not pose as a bridegroom . ”  
Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong . At that time, the youth indeed did not try to deceive Xie Lian by claiming to be the bridegroom . In fact, he didn’t say a single word at all . He only stopped in front of the wedding sedan and stretched out his hand . It was Xie Lian himself who had willingly followed him!  
Xie Lian said, “Alright . Why were you at Mount Yu Jun then?”  
Hua Cheng said, “There can only be two possible answers to your question: First, I went there expressly to seek out Your Royal Highness; second, I was just passing by and felt bored . Which do you think is more likely?”  
Considering the number of days the youth had spent idling by his side, Xie Lian said, “I would not presume to say which is more likely…… but you really do seem to have much free time on your hands . ”  
His eyes traveled over Hua Cheng, then flitted back up . After a long while, he nodded . “You…… are somewhat different from how the legends portray you . ”  
Hua Cheng changed his posture but his cheek remained propped on one hand as he gazed at Xie Lian attentively . “Oh? Then how did Your Royal Highness deduce that I am Blood Rain Seeking Flower?”  
Xie Lian’s mind conjured the memories of the bloody rain pattering down on the parasol, the silvery chimes of metal on metal, and the icy cold touch of the vambraces . You weren’t exactly taking pains to conceal your identity, he thought .  
What he said was, “No matter how we tested you, you were absolutely foolproof . That must mean you have reached the ‘absolute’ state . You’re clad entirely in crimson, like maple leaves, like blood . You seemed omniscient and omnipotent, absolutely fearless . With such a bearing, asides from the ‘Blood Rain Seeking Flower’ who could make the Heavenly Officials’ faces fall at the mere mention of his name, I can’t really think of anyone else . ”  
{T/N: Quick reminder . In chapter 12, it was mentioned that Hua Cheng once challenged 35 Heavenly Officials in combat and literature . 33 took up the challenge and lost . Then Hua Cheng burned all their temples and altars down . }  
Hua Cheng laughed . “Should I take your words as flattery?”  
Xie Lian thought, Isn’t it already obvious?  
Hua Cheng’s smile faded a little . “Your Highness, pretty words aside, aren’t you going to ask about my purpose for approaching you?”  
Xie Lian shook his head . “If you do not mean to tell me, it would be no use for me to ask . That, or you may not be telling me the truth . ”  
But Hua Cheng said, “Not necessarily . Moreover, you can always drive me away . ”  
Xie Lian replied, “With someone as powerful as yourself, even if I were to drive you away, should you really mean me harm, you could simply change your appearance and approach me again, no?”  
The two of them looked at each other and smiled . Suddenly, a rattling sound shattered the brief moment of silence that had fallen in the Pu Qi Shrine . The two of them turned towards the source of the noise, only to see a small, black clay pot rolling around on the ground .  
It was the small clay pot in which Ban Yue had been housed . Xie Lian had originally placed it by the straw mat, but now it had somehow toppled over and was rolling towards the door . The wooden door which Hua Cheng made blocked its path, and the clay pot began knocking against it . Worried that it would knock itself to pieces, Xie Lian opened the door . The little clay pot then rolled itself all the way out till it reached the grass .  
Xie Lian followed the pot . When the pot reached the grassy turf, it righted itself . Despite being nothing more than a pot, it somehow gave one the impression that it was gazing up at the starry night sky .  
Hua Cheng also followed him out of the Pu Qi Shrine . Xie Lian spoke to the pot, “Ban Yue, you’re awake?”  
Fortunately, it was already very late when they returned from the desert . Otherwise, there would be people witnessing Xie Lian standing outside in the middle of the night, asking a clay pot if it was feeling alright . No doubt such a peculiar sight would have stirred them to a tizzy .  
After a beat, a muffled voice came from the little clay pot . “General Hua . ”  
Xie Lian settled himself down beside the pot . “Ban Yue, did you come out to look at the stars? How about you come out of the pot first . ”  
Hua Cheng stood nearby, leaning against a tree . “She just left Ban Yue City, it’s better if she stays inside a little while longer,” he said .  
After all, Ban Yue had been staying within the confines of the Ban Yue City for over two hundred years . It may be difficult for her to adapt to the sudden change in surroundings .  
“Then it’s best if you stay inside for a bit longer,” Xie Lian agreed . “Rest and recuperate . This place is my sanctum, you don’t have to worry about anything else . ”  
The pot shook twice in reply . After a moment’s consideration, Xie Lian added, “Ban Yue, none of what happened was actually your fault . Your Scorpion-Tailed snakes were……”  
Ban Yue said, “General Hua . I couldn’t move previously, but I could hear everything . ”  
Xie Lian went still at her words . Then he realized that Pei Su had only sealed her ability to move, but had not sealed her consciousness . “Alright then . ”  
It’s just as well that she’d heard everything .  
The pot asked, “General Hua, what will happen to General Pei Junior?”  
Xie Lian tucked his hands into his sleeves, sighing, “I don’t know . But…… one should accept the punishment for one’s crimes . ”  
The pot was silent for a long while, then it shook twice again . This time, Xie Lian finally figured out that this wobble was meant to convey a nod .  
“Actually, General Pei Junior is not as bad as you think,” Ban Yue offered .  
“Is that so?”  
“En,” Ban Yue said . “He’s helped me before . ”  
{T/N: En is a sound of agreement or affirmation . If there is a question mark before it, En?, then it’s a sound of inquiry . }  
And suddenly, more memories flooded into Xie Lian’s mind .  
Ban Yue had been frequently beaten up . To quote the words of some Yong’an children, she “has a face that’s just asking for it” .  
Xie Lian only found out about this long after getting to know her . Because no matter how many beatings Ban Yue had suffered, she would never tell anyone . It wasn’t until Xie Lian happened to come across a group of children shoving her face down into the mud that he realized how the bruises on her face came to be .  
But after a while, when he asked her about the incident again, she could only remember the boy who had pulled her out of the mud pit and lent her a handkerchief to wipe her face, and that she must wash the handkerchief before returning it to him . The rest had all been forgotten .  
She could not remember those who had hit her . But anyone who has helped her would be engraved in her memory for a lifetime .  
Ban Yue added, “Ke Mo accused me of being charmed by him, that I was but a tool used by others . But regardless of whether I had been used or not, I had willingly opened the city gates . ”  
Xie Lian did not know what to say, but he felt a corner of his heart suddenly soften .  
He hurriedly patted the pot consolingly and said, “Alright, it’s all in the past now . By the way, Ban Yue . ‘Hua Xie’ was just a name I made up, and I have not been a general for a very long time . You don’t have to keep calling me General Hua . ”  
Ban Yue asked, “What should I call you then?”  
This question posed another problem . If Ban Yue calls him ‘Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince’ with her usual earnest fervour, it would definitely feel more than a little peculiar . Xie Lian is not a stickler for titles, and had only been trying to change the subject . He backtracked, “Never mind, it’s up to you . General Hua is fine too . ”  
It’s just that, there really is someone with the surname ‘Hua’ here as well, so things may get confusing if she goes about calling ‘General Hua’ . Xie Lian’s brows furrowed lightly . ‘Hua Xie’ was a name he made up by taking the first word from ‘ Flower Crown Martial God’ as his surname . Could ‘Hua Cheng’ be a pseudonym as well? For the both of them to pick the same word as their surnames seems a rather strange and quirky coincidence .  
{T/N: Huā means Flower, General Hua = General Flower . In Chapter 4, it is stated that XL’s statues of worship were sculpted with lots and lots of flowers because… . he is pretty . So he ended up with the sobriquet “Flower Crown Martial God” . Hua Cheng = Flower City}  
He heard Ban Yue say again, “I’m sorry, General Hua . ”  
Xie Lian reined back his wandering thoughts and said a little glumly, “Ban Yue, why do you keep apologizing to me?” Does his appearance somehow evoke too much pity in people?  
Ban Yue said, “I wanted to save the common people . ”  
Xie Lian: “………………”  
Ban Yue, “General Hua, these were your words back then . ”  
Xie Lian: “? ? ?”  
He immediately clutched the pot, flustered . “Wait, wait!”  
Ban Yue, “Wait for what?”  
Xie Lian snuck a quick peek at Hua Cheng who was still leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, before lowering his voice in a whisper, “Did I really say something like that?”  
Such pompous words were certainly something that he had loved to recite back when he was in his teens, but after a couple hundred years it should never have crossed his lips again . Hearing this sentence again out of the blue felt too incredible for him to accept .  
But Ban Yue insisted, “General, these were your words . ”  
Xie Lian protested weakly, “I didn’t……”  
Ban Yue continued mercilessly, “Oh yes, you did . Once, you asked me what I wanted to do once I grew up . I said I didn’t know, and you said, How could that be? I asked, What about you? And you said, When I was a kid, my dream was to save the common people!”  
“……”  
So that’s how it was . Xie Lian was horrified . “This! Ban Yue, why would you still remember such nonsense!”  
Ban Yue said, “Was it nonsense? But General Hua, I think you meant every word you said . ”  
Xie Lian looked up at the moon helplessly . “Haha…… is that so . Maybe . I can’t really remember what I said back then . ”  
Ban Yue added helpfully, “You also said, ‘Always do what you think is right!’, ‘Nothing can stand in your way!’, ‘Even if you fall a hundred times, you must get back up a hundred times!’ . And many more . ”  
“Pfft……”  
Xie Lian didn’t have to turn around to know that Hua Cheng was definitely laughing at him under the tree .  
It’s too late for Xie Lian to stopper up the pot now anyway . He thought, ……what utter nonsense…… why did I like saying such things? ……I’m not that kind of person…… am I that kind of person? ?  
“But, I don’t know what is right and what is wrong anymore,” Ban Yue said .  
Xie Lian went still at her words .  
“I dreamed of saving the common people, like what General Hua said . But I ended up destroying the Ban Yue nation . ”  
Ban Yue sounded bewildered and lost . “And it seemed like no matter what I did…… the outcomes were always terrible . General Hua, I know what I did was wrong, but can you tell me where I went wrong? What must I do before I can accomplish what you said…… to save the common people?”  
“……”  
“I’m sorry Ban Yue,” Xie Lian murmured . “How to save the common people…… I didn’t have the answer to this back then, and I still don’t have the answer now . ”  
Ban Yue was silent for a moment, then said, “To be honest General Hua, I don’t really know what I’ve been doing these two hundred years . I’m such a failure . ”  
Xie Lian felt even more depressed . He thought, I’ve been muddling along blindly for eight hundred years, am I not a bigger failure……?  
Leaving Ban Yue to calm down and quietly contemplate the stars alone in the pot, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng went back into the Pu Qi Shrine .  
After closing the door, Xie Lian suddenly spoke up, “Ban Yue stayed willingly in the Ban Yue pass, not because she had turned into a malicious spirit . That’s why she was trapped there . ”  
{T/N: 凶 (xiōng) – Usually used to describe ghosts with fierce grievances and more often than not, end up directing their malice at the living . In this context, it infers that Ban Yue was not shackled by her grievances, but her desire for atonement . Souls who cannot lay down their grievances tend to linger in the mortal realm due to ‘unfinished business’, like Ke Mo and his soldiers . }  
From the start, she could not forget that she was the one who had opened the city gates, and had never tried to justify her actions with excuses such as ‘for the good of the people’ . In order to help the soldiers of the Ban Yue nation vent their grievances and move on sooner, she allowed Ke Mo and his soldiers to capture and kill her over and over again .  
Xie Lian shook his head . “In fact, if General Pei Junior had really wanted to get rid of those Ban Yue soldiers and avoid discovery by the Upper Court of Heaven, he could have just quietly sent a puppet down to clean up those Ban Yue soldiers . Why did he have to use such a method instead . ”  
Hua Cheng said, “The powers of a puppet are greatly decreased . You’ve seen that puppet that Pei Su created, Ah Zhao . It wasn’t able to eliminate that many Ban Yue soldiers in one go . Feeding them with living flesh and blood to disperse their resentment is simpler and a great deal quicker . ”  
Xie Lian asked, “Why was it so important to be quick?”  
Hua Cheng replied, “Maybe he wants your little friend Ban Yue to suffer fewer hangings . ”  
Xie Lian was silent for a moment . “What about those mortals then?”  
Hua Cheng’s voice dipped . “To Heavenly Officials, the lives of mortals are insignificant . Pei Su is a typical example of a Heavenly Official from the Upper Court . As long as he is not discovered, snuffing out the lives of a few hundred people is no different from trampling a few hundred ants . ”  
Xie Lian gazed at him quietly . He recalled how after San Lang had jumped down into the Sinners’ Pit, the Ban Yue soldiers inside had been wiped out in the span of a single breath . He turned around, saying, “A puppet’s powers will be decreased, you say? From what I’ve seen though, this puppet of yours is pretty incredible . ”  
San Lang quirked a brow at him . “Of course . You’re looking at the real thing . ”  
Shocked, Xie Lian spun back around . “Huh? This is your true self?”  
Hua Cheng deadpanned, “Guaranteed genuine, otherwise returnable . ”  
If anyone was to blame for what happened next, it was that Hua Cheng’s words and expression seemed to be inviting a potential buyer to verify the authenticity of his goods . And so, before Xie Lian even realized what he was doing, he had already lifted a finger and given Hua Cheng’s cheek a poke .  
Then Xie Lian came to himself with a horrified start .  
He had only been overly curious about what the skin of a Ghost King would feel like, and his body had not consulted with his brain first before acting . After the poke, he was mortified .  
Hua Cheng seemed faintly startled by the poke to his face as well, but he remained calm and his expression quickly smoothed out again . He said nothing, his brows lifted even higher as he looked at Xie Lian expectantly, as if waiting for an explanation, amusement evident in his eyes .  
Of course, Xie Lian was not able to come up with a plausible excuse for his behavior . He stared at his own finger for a long moment, then tucked it away out of sight . “……Not bad . ”  
Hua Cheng finally burst out laughing . Folding his arms over his chest, he tilted his head at Xie Lian . “What’s not bad? Do you mean that this skin is not bad?”  
Xie Lian said sincerely, “Yea, it’s pretty good . But……”  
Hua Cheng, “But?”  
Xie Lian gazed at his face fixedly and hesitated . Finally, he said, “But can I see what you really look like?”  
Since Hua Cheng had said “this skin” just now, it shows that even though his presence was genuine, he was wearing a different skin . This appearance of a youngster is not his true form .  
This time, Hua Cheng did not answer immediately . He lowered his arms by his sides . It may be Xie Lian’s imagination, but his eyes seemed to grow darker . Xie Lian’s heart tightened .


End file.
